In the mid-1950s Erich Geiersberger, a journalist of the Bavarian rural radio, pioneered machinery rings. He had noticed that many family farms in Germany had over-invested in farm machinery compared to farms of similar size in France and in the Netherlands. This, Geiersberger worried, would threaten their competitiveness in the coming European Economic Community. Geiersberger suggested 'machine rings' as a solution to this predicament. Michael Munger, a professor of economics at Duke University in Durham, NC, USA, is probably totally unaware of machinery rings; they are certainly not mentioned in his book. Like Geiersberger, Munger is concerned with institutions that improve the utilization of durable goods. Yet, whereas Geiersberger acted as an organization designer and builder, Munger is a keen economic observer of changes in the organization of markets, changes which he expects to become revolutionary.
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