Tragedy of the Commons

1. Tragedy of the
Commons
Garrett
Hardin
– Economist

2. What does
“commons” means?
All who have
access to the
resources holds it
in common

3. Imagine…

4. Everyone will
maximize his own
benefits to the
detriment of the
whole
Modern “commons” include:
● The Sea - overfishing
● The air, the land, the
rivers - pollution
● The public noise level –
sound pollution
● National parks – overuse
● The Earth itself -
overpopulation
The New Commons

5. —Garrett Hardin
The main difficulty in solving environmental
problems is the conflict between the short-
term interests of the individual and the
long-term welfare of society.

6. “Population problem has no
technical solution:
it requires a fundamental
extension in morality”
“We can avoid tragedy only by
altering our values”
-Hardin, 1968

7. Sutainability…
Meeting the present
needs of without
comprimising the
needs of future
generation
Use resources at a
rate lower than the
rate at which they
are replenihed
3 pillar of
sustainability
SEE(Social,
Environmeltal and
Economic needs)

8. “Population problem
has no technical
solution:
it requires a
fundamental extension
in morality”
Problems with no technical
solution
● Overpopulation and
competition for resources
● Since no technical solution,
the solution must be
political
● Thomas Malthus (1766-1834)
Population grows exponentially,
food supply can only increase
arithmetically, so eventually
we will starve (or decrease
population via wars, disease or
anarchy)
The Tragedy of the
Commons

9. Overpopulation
• Freedom to breed
is intolerable
• Overpopulation harms
the world as a
whole.
• As long as we have
welfare state,
people will continue
to have more
children than is
food for society

10. In Summary, the tragedy of commons…
-Privatization of profits/benefits
-Sharing of costs/risks
-Any cost of clean up is an externally for the
company.
-”I get to use all of the resources I need to
make money FOR ME but the cost of
degrading the resources is tax payers
burden”

11. Thanks!