Softwood Lumber Talks Collapse

To absolutely nobody's surprise, talks between the American and Canadian government on the softwood lumber dispute have broken down again. The Canadian side left the negotiations after an American lobby group shot down a proposal which was created jointly by American and Canadian negotiators. Which leads to the obvious question:

Why does one U.S. lobby group hold so much power?

The Edmonton Sun has reported that a group representing American softwood lumber producers known as The Coalition for Fair Lumber Imports came up with a new set of proposals which the Canadians did not find acceptable. An American consumers lobby group known as American Consumers for Affordable Homes which is against softwood lumber tarrifs appears to be ignored by the American side. This not surprising, as "The Logic of Collective Action" showed us that smaller groups where each member had a lot to gain were likely to be more successful than larger groups where each member had less to gain.

Important Links

• To learn more about the softwood lumber dispute see: "The Softwood Lumber Dispute"
• To learn more about lobby groups see: "The Logic of Collective Action"