[wig]

Then Adam Smith's invisible hand SHOULD be judged the best. I certainly find the elegance of capitalism to be a more beautiful idea than the controlled economy and society of Marx.

I agree. In reality, it yields better fruit despite the shortcomings.

Interestingly, in many fields of science, there is a recent great interest in bottom up network architecture. How do the individual neurons of the brain each following their own rules and with no apparent leader become "the mind"? How do individual birds each following their own rules and with no leader become a flock? (that one is for Peaches) How do individual bees each do their own dance pointing to a potential new place to move the hive eventually make an aggregate decision for the entire hive without a leader?

Good questions. Perhaps because they are not subject to an overruling force or stringent social rules. Why do you think this is the case?

And of course on to the question of why it is that pricing decisions are best determined by the aggregate factors of supply and demand rather than a bureaucrat sitting in an office in Moscow or Beijing.

Because one person or group of people are incapable of determining what prices, level of production, etc. will yield the best results. It is simply to complex and there are too many factors to consider.