Mancur Olson (1932-1998) was the Chair and Principal Investigator of the Center on Institutional Reform and
the Informal Sector (IRIS) and Distinguished Professor of Economics at the University of Maryland. His books The
Logic of Collective Action and The Rise and Decline of Nations have been translated into nine languages.
Review
"Power and Prosperity is an important book, written with clarity and verve. It is a great misfortune that
Mancur Olson is not here to respond to the debates that it will surely provoke."
--The Wall Street Journal
Perseus Books Group Web Site, March, 2002
Summary
Why do some economies do better than others? How does society encourage the kind of market economy that generates
continually increasing incomes? How do particular styles of government affect economic performance? World-renowned
economist Mancur Olson tackles these questions and others in what will surely be regarded as his magnum opus. Olson
contends that governments can play an essential role in the development of markets. Reliable enforcement of private
contracts and protection of individual rights to property depend on governments strong enough not to undermine
them. His exploration of "market-augmenting governments" will stand as a cutting-edge work on economic
growth and provide a useful framework in which to consider the Asian financial crisis and its aftermath. As Susan
Lee noted in Forbes, "his pioneering insights might have won a Nobel Prize for Olson had he lived a bit longer."
Table of Contents
1. The Logic of Power
2. Time, Takings, and Individual Rights
3. Coaseian Bargains, Transactions Costs, and Anarchy
4. Rational Individuals and Irrational Societies
5. Governance and Economic Growth
6. The Sources of Law Enforcement and Corruption
7. The Theory of Soviet-Type Autocracies
8. The Evolution of Communism and Its Legacy
9. Implications for the Transition
10. The Kinds of Markets Needed for Prosperity
