Mancur Olson

"The rational individual is not the one who has final answers; he is the one who is always searching for better answers."

"Any cartel or coalition is only as strong as the incentives that hold it together."

"In any group, the most active members tend to receive the most benefits."

"The larger the number of individuals in a group, the less likely the group will act in its common interest."

"Latent groups are the ones most prone to disorganization."

"A rational individual in a latent group will not be willing to sacrifice his time and money to overcome even a relatively small cost imposed on the group as a whole."

"Selective incentives are necessary to motivate members of large groups."

"The common good is not served by allowing the strongest to dominate."

"Power tends to concentrate in the hands of those with the most incentive to organize."

"Economic growth requires institutional arrangements that encourage productive activity."

"Monopolies distort economic incentives and reduce efficiency."

"The tragedy of the commons arises when individuals have little incentive to preserve shared resources."

"Organizational efficiency depends on aligning individual and collective interests."

"Special interest groups will always have advantages in political organization."

"Democracy requires mechanisms to overcome the collective action problem."

"Autocracies often provide more stable institutions than democracies."

"The distribution of income reflects the distribution of political power."

"Economic decline follows the accumulation of distributional coalitions."

"Nations with stable institutions will outperform those without them."

"Institutional sclerosis prevents societies from adapting to new circumstances."

"The rise and decline of nations follows predictable patterns."

"Britain's relative economic decline resulted from institutional rigidity."

"War can sometimes break the hold of distributional coalitions."

"Postwar periods often see rapid economic growth due to institutional renewal."

"The absence of a dominant power often leads to international conflict."

"Hegemonic stability depends on the hegemon's willingness to provide public goods."

"Rational actors will not voluntarily contribute to public goods."

"The free rider problem is endemic to all collective action."

"Coercion is sometimes necessary to solve collective action problems."

"Government exists primarily to solve collective action problems."