5.1: Tragedy of the commons

Question 1

What is tragedy of the commons?

Answer 1

The belief that individuals use shared resources selfishly rather than keeping with the common good leading to a degradation of that resource

Question 2

What qualifies something as a tragedy of the commons?

Answer 2

The resource must be public and it has to be degraded in some manner

Question 3

What are some examples of the tragedy of the commons?

Answer 3

• Oceans: Overfishing and overharvesting of biomass which disrupts marine food chains and decreases species biodiversity
• Air: Air pollution from carbon emissions which can trigger health problems in individuals

Question 4

Externality

Answer 4

A benefit or consequence that wasn’t included in the purchase right of the good or service and was not otherwise accounted for. Positive: beekeeping and native plant pollination. Negative: companies polluting air and smoking.

Question 5

What are some solutions to the tragedy of the commons?

Answer 5

• Partitioning resources to individuals so they have to deal with the consequences
• Private land ownership
• Fees or taxes for use of public resources
• Criminal charges and harsh fines for abuse of public resources
• Education and peer pressure

Question 6

Examples of solutions of tragedy of the commons

Answer 6

• Clean air act - intended to reduce and control air pollution nationwide.
• Clean water act - prevent, reduce, and eliminate pollution in the nation’s water in order to “restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation’s waters”
• Safe drinking water Act - protect our drinking water and require landlords, etc. to change pipes if lead concentration exceeds 15 ppm
• BLM (manages rangelands by collecting grazing fees from ranchers, evaluating land, and repairing effects of overgrazing)