The notion that states need to engage in central planning of their higher-education systems has reared its head in Florida. Story here. State politicians are worried about the fact that the state is way down the list in the percentage of citizens who hold college degrees. This reminds me of the Marxist idea that government officials need to decide how to plan the economy — how many steel mills, tractor factories, bakeries and so on would be best. Free-market thinking in economics has crushed that idea. We’re far, far better off relying on the spontaneous order of the marketplace, which works because each individual attempts to maximize his own welfare. The same is true with education. People will decide for themselves how much and what kind of education is optimal. There is no more need for the government to aim at any targets for education degree production than for it to aim at targets for shoe production.