what collective action problems did the articles of confederation have?
The Articles as written didn’t have any collective action problems per se. The States, under the Articles, could have taken cooperative action in any number of areas. And, since the Articles could be amended, Congress could have done anything it wanted. However, in practical terms, there was no cooperative action under the Articles. The Articles basically gave no power to Congress. Congress could make laws, but not enforce them. Congress could not levy taxes and was dependent on the States for funds. Not surprisingly, the result was the Congress was constantly underfunded. Congress also had no power to regulate trade. So each state could have a different set of tarriffs and port fees. Also, since each State was considered soverign, they could levy tarriffs on any goods shipped across state lines. Each state printed it’s own currency, making any “national” currency worthless. The result of all of this was an almost prostrate national economy. Each state had a separate army (some called
