ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Economic calculation problem

The economic calculation problem is a problem in economics that comes up when you try to measure and manage something that is not easy to measure and manage. For example, let's say that you wanted to know how much people wanted to pay for a particular type of product. To figure this out, you would need to know how much of the product people wanted, what kind of qualities they were looking for in the product, and how much it cost to make the product. That's a lot of information to weigh, so it's really hard to calculate what the best price for the product should be. The economic calculation problem is a way to try and make it a little easier for economists to try and figure out how much something should cost.