The invisible hand wins but is not without criticism
Indeed, the failure of a multidecade communist experiment in the former Soviet Union is a testimony to the strength of the argument, as are the differences between North Korea and South Korea. Meanwhile, since Hong Kong was peacefully transferred to China in 1997, China has become more like Hong Kong than Hong Kong has become like China, at least in economic matters.
The argument in favor of an invisible hand is not without its critics, and they even include Fyodor Dostoyevsky -- an indication of just how influential the concept has been. In Crime and Punishment, Luzhin, the objectionable suitor to the sister of the main character, Raskolnikov, argues, “Science now tells us, love yourself before all men, for everything in the world rests on self-interest. You love yourself and manage your own affairs properly, and your coat remains whole.” Raskolnikov responds by noting, “Why, carry out logically the theory you were advocating just now, and it follows that people may be killed.”