I'm not unhappy, and in fact am quite happy, with the "Communist" (actually socialist -- Communism is seen as a remote goal -- perhaps in the indefinite future not unlike Christ's Second Coming) system in Vietnam.  At first things went badly because the authorities took their Mao too seriously, but when instead they tried a more Leninist, less Stalinist and certainly freer approach, readily allowing if not encouraging foreign investment and private small enterprises, the economy and everyone's standard of living have done wonderfully.  That does not mean socialism as the underlying foundation of the economy has been abandoned.

I think Vietnam thereby avoids a lot of the problems of capitalism and yet gains the incentives and competitive pressure (even the state enterprises almost always are set up either to compete with each other as well as with private and semi-private ventures).  The system isn't perfect (in particular the corruption that state enterprise seems to sometimes encourage) but these are specific offenses that jails are built for, and the legal and monopolistic practices of free enterprises can be dealt with quickly on a case by case basis without all the lawyers -- private enterprise is by sufferance rather than a legal right.

The key in my opinion is flexibility and avoidance of rigid ideological notions -- whatever works on a case by case basis, but not allowed to happen as it happens (unrestricted market forces) but through constant study by planners and academics.