Black markets, rationing, shortages - these and other issues are covered in this important collection which presents a selection of the best literature on the impact of price controls on wages, investment and real output in the short and long runs.The book covers a wide range of episodes ranging from the controls imposed by the Emperor Diocletian in the year 301 A.D. to recent experiments in Sweden. Several essays deal with controls during the two world wars, when some form of control was adopted by most of the industrialized countries. It includes articles by both critics of controls such as Milton Friedman to defenders such as John Kenneth Galbraith. Several are written by scholars who worked as high-level administrators of the programs they discuss.

The book will be an essential reference source for both economists and economic historians with an interest in the price system and the functioning of a market economy.