Planning vs Prices

There's a fire that's been burning
Right outside my door
I can't see but I feel it
And it helps to keep me warm
--Phil Collins

An axiom of human existence is that resources necessary for survival and prosperity are scarce, meaning that they need to be economized--a.k.a. rationed. There are two systems for rationing economic resources.

One system is central planning. People in a room decide what gets produced and who gets it. These people control productive assets, either through outright ownership or through regulation. The planners rule this system. Production and distribution decisions are at the discretion of the bureaucrats; consumers must live with the resource allocations made by the planners.

The other system is prices. Voluntary exchange among individuals establishes prices (i.e., what must be given up) for each economic resource. Prices ration scarce resources, as high prices reduce the draw on dear resources. Consumers, not producers or planners, rule this system. When prices increase, consumers are signalling producers that they are on the right track and that they should produce more. Entrepreneurs are motivated to improve productivity, which alleviates scarcity as more output is generated per unit of input.

Which system is more capable of rationing scarce economic resources?