Friedrich A. Hayek
Centralized economic planning, Hayek argues, tends to erode individual freedom and push societies toward authoritarian control, including the manipulation of public truth.
Central economic planning cannot be separated from political control because directing the means of production ultimately gives the state sweeping power over the ends of human life.
A free society operates under the Rule of Law with formal, predictable rules that allow individuals to plan their own lives, whereas collectivism relies on arbitrary, ad hoc decrees.
Totalitarian systems tend to elevate ruthless and unscrupulous individuals to power because the enforcement of a single economic plan requires leaders willing to discard traditional moral restraints.