Mancur Olson

Mancur Olson (1932 to 1998) was an American economist from North Dakota who spent his later career as distinguished professor of economics at the University of Maryland at College Park, where he also chaired the Center on Institutional Reform and the Informal Sector. He was among the first social scientists to apply rigorous analysis to nonmarket activity, and his two major works, The Logic of Collective Action (1964) and The Rise and Decline of Nations (1982), shaped political science as much as economics. The economist James Buchanan, a Nobel laureate, remembered him as an enthusiast for basic ideas who always kept their practical relevance in view. His last book, Capitalism, Socialism, and Dictatorship, appeared after his death.