Mancur Olson

"Markets fail when transaction costs are high."

"Information asymmetries create problems in markets and politics alike."

"Incentive structures determine human behavior more than ideology."

"The self-interested actor is the most reliable predictor of behavior."

"Altruism is rare and usually serves hidden self-interested purposes."

"Institutions matter because they shape the incentives individuals face."

"Path dependence means history matters for understanding the present."

"Once institutions are established, they tend to persist even when inefficient."

"Economic policy should focus on incentive alignment rather than distribution."

"Wealth redistribution creates political incentives that undermine economic growth."

"Special interests will always outorganize the general interest."

"Large stable democracies face greater institutional sclerosis than smaller ones."

"The smallest democracies often have the highest growth rates."

"Encompassing interests are more likely to support productive efficiency."

"The more encompassing an interest, the more it will support efficient institutions."

"Narrow interests will sacrifice general prosperity for private gain."

"Lobbying power is inversely related to the size of the group."

"Diffuse costs and concentrated benefits lead to exploitation."

"Concentrated costs and diffuse benefits are rarely implemented through politics."

"Rational political actors will ignore the interests of diffuse majorities."

"Democracy is less efficient at providing public goods than is often assumed."

"Voting cannot solve the collective action problem."

"Representative government creates its own principal-agent problems."

"Bureaucrats have incentives that differ fundamentally from those they serve."

"Regulatory capture transforms regulators into servants of special interests."

"The regulatory state inevitably serves the regulated industries."

"Economic regulation usually harms consumers while benefiting producers."

"Competition is the most powerful force for economic efficiency."

"Monopoly power corrupts both economics and politics."

"Free entry is essential for competitive markets to function."