This is a branch off of my thread "Politics behind Bitcoin development?"
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2560601.0;topicseenIn my mind the really salient difference between Bitcoin and Litecoin is not the underlying technology, but rather that Bitcoin is run/managed by a somewhat decentralized political system in which the mining nodes determine which current fork is supported, whereas Litecoin has a single person, Charles Lee, controls the development of Litecoin.
The wisdom of crowds is the best vehicle for aggregating distributed knowledge--market prices are a prime example of this--when incentives are correct. However, when incentives are not correct or there are coordination problems or public choice issues rear their head, it might be better to have a single individual controlling the system.
Thoughts?