Free-market stories rely on price signals to coordinate “spontaneous order” from innumerable voluntary (so presumed beneficial) choices. “Spontaneous” here means undesigned. No individual needs, or can have, all the information that shapes prices. Demand changes are reflected in price changes and markets adjust automatically using the “dispersed knowledge” of many. No dreaded “central planning” is needed. Advertising But this dispersed knowledge story concentrates attention on only one type of  spontaneous order: wherein individual incentives align with collective goals. But nothing guarantees that. - http://bigthink.com/errors-we-live-by/what-if-the-price-was-never-right