Richard Tuck's book explores a topic at the heart of contemporary economics, namely the problem of free riding. As Tuck notes, "the notion of perfect competition rests precisely on the claim that it is irrational in instrumental terms to contribute to a collective enterprise where one's contribution makes no appreciable difference to the outcome" (p. 2). It is that claim that separates competition from monopoly, and it is that claim that underpins the conventional Nash equilibrium-based analysis of social settings in economics, political science, and sociology.
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