“The spontaneous individual optimization that drives the theories with which I began is important, but it is not enough by itself. If spontaneous Coase‐style bargains, whether through laissez-faire or political bargaining and government, eliminated socially wasteful predation and obtained the institutions that are needed for a thriving market economy, then there would not be so many grossly inefficient and poverty-stricken societies.”

—  Mancur Olson

"Big Bills Left on the Sidewalk: Why Some Nations Are Rich, and Others Poor"

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American economist 1932–1998

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