The Tragedy of the Commons

1. What is Garret Hardin most concerned about?

Garret Hardin is most concerned about the idea of private property and the commons. In his essay he states that the commons negatively effect our environment, because people do not hesitate to overuse these resources.

2. How can "the commons" best be defined?

The "commons" are land that is not owned by anyone. Examples of "commons" are: the atmosphere, the oceans, the rainforests, etc.

3. Are individuals who overuse "the commons" acting irrationally? Explain.

No, individuals that overuse the "commons" resources are acting quite rational, because the overuse of these resources are not restricted in any way and they are not regulated by anyone. Although the overuse of public resources affect the environment and society extremely negatively, the "over users" are not acting irrationally.

4. Besides the "common pasture", what other resources does Hardin identify as "commons"?

Besides the pastures, Garrett Hardin also identifies the national parks of America and the oceans as commons.

5. What are some of the possible solutions he suggests for the problems faced by America's National Parks?

He suggests that the national parks should be privatized, aka. sold to private owners.

6. How are air and water different from pastures, the oceans, and national parks in the "tragedy" presented by the common resources?



7. What are some of the possible solutions Hardin suggests for the "cesspool" tragedy represented by the pollution of our air and water?

He suggest coercive laws and taxing devices to, that would make it cheaper for the polluter discharge the treated pollutants than the untreated pollutants.

8. How does the tragedy of the commons lead to market failure?

The overuse of the commons negatively affects everyone living on our planet. The resources that are destroyed and overused can never be recovered which does not only affect the polluters but also everyone else, this is what makes it a negative externality and therefore a market failure.