Moreover, although these self-reinforcing systems do depend on other systems to support them - that was Hirschman's point — they do not in fact guarantee that those ancillary systems will work. They will work, of course, if pecuniary incentives are already in place. But it is part of the point of the argument that such incentives may not exist.

XREF: Connects to Hirschman's notion of unbalanced growth and dependency arguments, likely relevant to development economics discussions.

Diego Gambetta, Trust - Making and Breaking…, loc. 1562