It is indeed a fuckup. But you're implying that the solution is communism.

Since I was born in a communist country, I can tell you this: it's easy to show low prices on paper. It's when you need to deliver the goods that's a bit more complex. People were paying low rent, but couldn't move from one city to another one. You would a job when you finished college. If you didn't like it, well, you didn't need to like everything in life. You'd get a place to rent too. You didn't like it? It was a free country, you were free to not like it. Just not free to express your various dislikes.