1230 PONTIFICIAE ACADEMIAE SCIENTIARVM SCRIPTA VARIA - 26 
First question: when Prof. FRISCH spoke a few minutes ago of 
‘he question of preference functions, he said that he had dealt spoken 
with it in his paper and mentioned especially pages 36 and 37. I have 
ead them again. If I understand Prof. FriscH’s point of view 
correctly, what he is proposing in fact is to construct a preference 
function (page 37) but, again, he esteems it desirable to have only one 
preference function and I personally consider that this reduction is 
not possible and not even desirable. If we consider different prefe- 
rence functions, for instance two or three only, although the number 
has no importance, the nature of the optimum problem does change. 
In any case, from an ethical point of view, this point is also quite 
'mportant, because if there is but one preference function, this means 
that some people will have power to define this preference function 
according to their own preferences. Many criticisms can then be 
raised. Thus my first question is: Does Professor FRISCH propose 
consideration of only one preference function or is he ready to con- 
sider a plurality of preference functions without attempting to reduce 
this plurality to one only? 
The fact is that he seems to imply that it is possible to reduce 
a plurality of preference functions to one only which would be 
maximised. If this possibility does not exist the paper’s entire rea- 
soning is deprived of its foundations. 
My second point was that — and perhaps I was not sufficiently 
clear this morning — in general we don’t know the production 
functions at all and if we don’t know them, I cannot see how 
FriscH’s system can work. 
My third point is that it is not possible to separate selection and 
implementation, because in general we don’t know the production 
‘unctions. 
And fourthly, it appears to me that it is impossible to reduce the 
whole process of decision-taking to a dialogue between politicians 
and planners. Thus, my question is: Does Professor FriscH intend 
to plan the whole economy or only one part of it in the manner 
he described? In the first case, decentralisation would be impossible 
and the economic svstem would be verv inefficient. 
17} Frisch - pag. 34