5.1 Tragedy of the Commons

What is the concept of the Tragedy of the Commons

Individuals tend to use shared/public resources in their own self interest degrading them

What are two main things that apply to the Tragedy of the Commons

It must be a public resource, not private

It must be degraded, overused, depleted, or used up in some way

Examples of the Tragedy of the Commons

Overgrazing - having too many animals

Overfishing - people catching too many fish at a time

Water and air pollution

Overuse of groundwater

Ways that Tragedy of the Commons happen

No one owns the resource (land, water, air) so no one directly suffers the negative consequences of depleting, degrading, or overusing it

People will assume others will overuse it if they don’t

There is no penalty for overuse, degradation, or pollution so there is less care for public used resource

What are externalities

They are negative costs associated with a human’s actions that aren’t accounted for in price (unintended side effects)

Overfishing is a externality that can lead to..

fishery collapse (population crash) loss of income + starvation

Air pollution is an externality that happens..

from coal and power plants which can lead to many diseases: bronchitis + asthma = increased healthcare costs

Pesticides are an externality that happens..

from runoff from farms that contaminates drinking water

Solving Tragedy of the Commons requires..

Private land ownership (individual gov)

Usage fees or taxes for use. ex permit system for grazing, logging

Taxes, fines, or criminal charges for pollution or shared air/soil/water resources

Some Important Acts

Clean Water Act

Clean Air Act

Safe Drinking Water Act + Bureau of Land Management