  Olson based his analysis on Paul Samuelson’s theory of public goods. Samuelson (1954) noted that some goods, once they are made available to one person, can be consumed by others at no additional marginal cost; this condition is commonly called jointness of supply or nonrivalness of consumption, because your consumption of the good does not affect mine, as your eating a lovely dinner would block my eating it. Therefore, in standard price theory, in which price tends to equate to marginal cost, such goods should have a zero price. But if they are priced at zero, they will generally not be provided. In essence, price theory commends free riding on the provision of such goods. This might sound like merely a cute logical problem; but standard examples include radio broadcasts, national defense, and clean air. If any of these is provided for anyone, they are de facto provided for everyone in the relevant area or group.