Discussion of the Paper by Professor Dorfman

Professor Dorfman introduced the discussion of his paper. He regretted that it was in some respects obscure and that participants had had relatively little time to study it. He therefore proposed to sketch out a background and context in which the paper might be viewed. He was not dealing directly with planning and the market, but it had already become apparent in the Conference that many questions depended for their resolution on an appeal to some standard of values. The nature of this appeal and the way in which it operated in practice were the questions to which his paper was addressed. Any public decision was itself a public good, in the sense that it affected the welfare of many people. It was impossible, however, to consult all those upon whom a decision of this sort would impinge. Moreover, most of us did not have the time, information and background to make such decisions rationally. Since we could not be expected to know the data, we must instead know whom to trust to make these decisions for us. If we did find it necessary to entrust certain individuals, the ‘politicos’, with this power, we should at least analyse the way in which their preferences interact to generate public decisions.