An Economics of Anonymity

Unlike encryption, it's not enough for just one person to want anonymity: the infrastructure must participate
Systems need cover traffic (many low-sensitivity users) to attract the high-sensitivity users
Most users do not value anonymity much
Weak security (fast system) can mean more users
which can mean stronger anonymity
There can be an optimal level of free-riding
High-sensitivity agents have incentive to run nodes
so they can be certain first node in their path is good
to attract cover traffic for their messages