The logic of collective action
by Mancur Olson · first published 1965
58% recommend42% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Classic political science study of why small, concentrated groups organize more easily than large diffuse ones, explaining free riders and lobbying; a standard introduction for anyone curious about collective action.
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…are opposed to the overall economic goals of growth. This is one of many such individual/group paradoxes, and is one of the principle reasons for laws (legal, moral, or otherwise). The 1971 book The Logic of Collective Action by Mancur Olson is one of the better illuminations of the concept: http://economics.about.com/cs/macroeconomics/a/logic_of_acti... There are numerous other conflicts and paradoxes within economic theory…
on “Krugman on BitCoin” ↗…and forces the matter. (Virtually all government regulations fall into this category.) 4. The public good is not provisioned. (What happened to investors who wanted trustworthy ratings.) Read The Logic of Collective Action for the classic introduction to this topic.
on “93% of 2006 AAA-rated subprime mortgage-backed securities now rated junk” ↗If you want to understand why it is hard to get many people who will benefit to pony up, read The Logic of Collective Action. Basically the problem is that it is a public good. If the good is provided, everyone benefits, not just the ones who paid. So unless your payment is going to make the difference between it happening…
on “Why The US Can Beat China: The Facts About SpaceX Costs” ↗Good question. Finding ways to disincentivise defection would be key. You might want to look up Mancur Olson's "Logic of Collective Action", which deals with this problem, generally.
on “Sci-Hub as Necessary, Effective Civil Disobedience” ↗…— nobody can stop you from doing it out of the US thanks to Don Rumsfeld keeping us out of the Law of the Sea treaty) Some reading on the political science front: Legitimation crisis by j Habermas Logic of collective action by m Olson End of liberalism by T Lowi.
on “Ask HN: How can we make humanity as a whole smarter?” ↗…experiences that people have while in altered states of consciousness from meditation.) 2. The shortcomings of libertarianism involve various tragedies of the commons. (My favorite book on this being, The Logic of Collective Action.) However the evidence in favor of most government interventions is rather weak. And the evidence is very strong that well-intended government interventions predictably will, after regulatory capture,…
on “Why is it so hard to be rational?” ↗Mancur Olson: Logic of Collective action.
on “Ask HN: What are you reading to make sense of the economy?” ↗…inside trader was acting on inside information. Therefore you can't get them to cooperate for their general good. For much more on why groups fail to act in their self-interest I highly recommend The Logic of Collective Action by Mancur Olson. You can read some of the main points at http://economics.about.com/cs/macroeconomics/a/logic_of_acti....
on “Learning to Love Insider Trading” ↗For anyone who's interested, one of the canonical statements of the free rider problem and exclusive/inclusive goods is Mancur Olson's The Logic of Collective Action. A short book and well worth the read.
on “An Economy of Liars” ↗…good enough. You've got to actively seek out good. Even a benign maximisation goal will, if not tempered by requirements to provide net benefit, lead to catastrophic results. 4. Mancur Olson's "The Logic of Collective Action" explains how and why small (but motivated) fringe groups can achieve goals directly opposed to the interests of far larger groups. This explains a great deal of market and political dysfunction. 5.…
on “Social Network Algorithms Are Distorting Reality by Boosting Conspiracy Theories” ↗This is a well-known phenomenon in political science---Mancur Olson, "The Logic of Collective Action," is the relevant read: small groups that can generate group-specific benefits (like suppressing competition for their businesses) have a much easier time carrying out organized political activity of…
on “A Taco Truck on Every Corner, or Not?” ↗The Logic of Collective Action, Mancur Olson. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Logic_of_Collective_Action
on “European Parliament approves copyright reform” ↗> ...and in some cases, no union is actually the smart choice. Logic of Collective Action is a game theoretic framework to help make that choice. Very accessible. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Logic_of_Collective_Action https://www.amazon.com/Logic-Collective-Action-Printing-Appe...
on “New York Times tech workers vote to certify union” ↗…(anything by Robert Greene) and even some serious and influential books in the social sciences and can be cooked down to a single university lecture like Exit, Voice and Loyalty by Albert O. Hirschman Logic of Collective Action by Mancur Olson The Zero-sum Society by Lester Thurow (want to know why the world gave up on tariffs?) maybe some worthwhile management books could be extended into a podcast series, I'd say Quality…
on “Ask HN: What podcast episodes changed the way you think about startups?” ↗The Logic of Collective Action, Mancur Olson, 1965: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Logic_of_Collective_Action> <https://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=63B1D140FD13A03F15BF842...> Very strongly recommended. I'd stumbled across…
on “They made computers behave like annoying salesmen” ↗