Only a few days ago, I had a conversation with Claire Kittle at Talent Market about jobs within the free-market movement, and she pointed out that she frequently receives inquiries from think tanks looking for help with some project or another — often websites — and that they don’t know where to turn. Certainly, there are professionals throughout the nation who would be happy to lend a hand, and sites like Talent Market and Liberty Guide are excellent resources for linking potential employers with would-be staff.

It occurred to me, though, that not every organization is able to hire staff members, because the economic downturn has dampened fundraising everywhere — at precisely the time that loud, clear free-market voices are needed more than ever. These organizations face a more difficult challenge: How do you find somebody who can help you for week, a day, or a couple of hours? Temp agencies can fill some local needs, but they focus primarily on generic office and administrative skills.

Freelancers abound within the free-market movement, but they’re even more spread out than the wide array of organizations who might want to hire them. Writers, editors, researchers, designers, and coders aren’t necessarily accustomed to advertising their own services, so their skills may remain underutilized — not a closely guarded secret, but not widely known either.

Austrian economists would think of this as one example of a coordination problem. Markets are good at providing things that people want at prices they’re willing to pay, but markets aren’t perfect. Everybody is trying to fulfill their needs and wants with a severely limited individual perspective in a wide-ranging market with innumerable participants. None of us are omniscient, so we often fail to find the things that would satisfy us, or to provide the things that would satisfy others.

One of the biggest benefits of the Internet during the past two decades has been the extent to which it reduces coordination problems. Google, Facebook, Twitter, eBay, Craigslist, Wikipedia, Amazon, Reddit, etc., all make it easier than ever for people to find what they’re looking for — to overcome economic coordination problems for goods, services, and knowledge.

But some problems remain, and so new solutions arise as people attempt to overcome them. ThinkTankOverflow.com is our attempt to help surmount one specific coordination problem: matching the temporary needs of free-market think tanks with the network of freelancers who can help them. Even though we’ve barely launched this effort, I think we’re already getting off to a great start.