Lindblom - The Market System - Afghan Journalists' Committee

72 How It Worksshovel and a rake. Both tools break the soil and for that reasoncan be compared, but their functions differ, and there islittle point in faulting a rake because it is not useful for deepdigging. Similarly, balloting and market voting are forms ofmass control of elites. But ballots have the function of resolvingconflict or, more precisely, of deciding who winsand who loses. The results of balloting impose losses onthose outvoted. But when you vote with your money for acellular phone, no one may lose. Although conflict arises onwho gets what share of the product of social cooperation,when you come to the market to cast your money vote forthe phone, your share has already been decided by decisionson wages, interest, and dividends. Your money vote simplyexpresses your choice of the particular form—the phone—in which you want to claim some of your already decidedshare.Still, the differences between the two methods of votingare illuminating. In a market system a customer’s votegives the market elite relatively precise direction: one canvote, say, for a touring bicycle, 23-inch frame of bonded carbonfiber tubes, and 21-speed wide-range gearing. Politicalvoters cannot match that specificity, even though they canvote for an individual candidate or party. One of the manyimprecisions of balloting is that the voter must choose acandidate or party that takes a position on each of many issues,only some of which the voter intends to endorse. Thewinning party or candidate does not know whether it won avoter’s ballot because the voter wants a tax program offeredby the party or candidate or because the voter wants to endorsethe candidate or party on some other issue.Another precision in market voting: When you cast amoney vote, you simultaneously pay. Your vote specifiesprecisely the temperature of your desire, taking into ac-