🐄 The Tragedy of the Commons | How to Avoid It?

The tragedy of the commons - what is it and how to avoid it? Are there any good solutions? Is there a way to stop it? Learn Economics in a fun way!

LINKS

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Music on CC license:

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

[SophieGotraceMusic]

Nice video. Haiti had that same issue with trees. Since people could cut them and turn them into energy source ( coal ), everyone cut them. Now, there are not enough trees to replace the old trees fast enough. Now, any rain, create flood since there are no more thees. :-(

[luca]

I love the part where the music swells and I went "NOOO farmer, NOOOO..."
Some dramatic stuff right there

[TheStarryNightLife]

At the end of the video Elinor Ostrom is mentioned as if she were a footnote to Hardin's work, but her contribution to this topic was revolutionary. Ostrom pioneered empirical research programs (something economists generally can't be bothered with) showing the Tragedy of the Commons to be historically confused and her theoretical work turns Hardin's tale on its head. Ostrom found that humans are quite adept at managing commons, that such tragedies as Hardin describes as inexorable are in reality the exception not the rule. Moreover the resources of the commons are often spoiled when Hardin's solutions, privatize or regulate, are implemented.

In other words, economics needs to stop teaching Hardin's tale as anything but a footnote to Ostrom.

[SanketDube]

Soon water will be subject to 'The Tragedy of the Commons'. :(

[jakecollier]

DUDE! This Channel is so amazing your doing awesome work im so glad I found it early. If you keep this content quality going your going to be huge. This is real knowledge, Love this shit so much,

[josnikhil]

Thank you for beautiful video! At the end of the video it's mentioned that specific examples of solutions will be mentioned in one of the coming videos. Can you please share which video it is? Is it about Prisoner's Dilemma?

[viniciuspreu-aulasdeteclado]

Brazilians will never understand this... :(

[chaitanyaravi]

Thank you for a wonderfully informative video. I am a professor and am using this video in my classes

[bowlyyougottobelieve]

Why didn't you address the land grab that was the enclosures? That's what started the problem.

[AkashJobanputra]

New Subscriber, Nice content, loving it so far!

[doodelay]

"Freedom in a Commons brings ruin to all." Man that is a lost quote if I've ever heard one.

[Naturenerd]

Most places have very strict fishing and hunting regulations at least in the US.

[bhatkrishnakishor]

Ground water in cities of developing world are facing similar problem and is depleting very fast.

[elietheprof]

Basically a giant prisoners' dilemma

[hanova]

Option 3 is literally what the tragedy of the commons is saying inevitablely fails.

He tries to manipulate it, such as when he says the fisherman will 'naturally' keep other fisherman out and enforce rules. He's just changing it to option 1 or 2.

[duyatnguyen]

Same problem in VN too. but at a larger scale

[austinbyrd]

When the western land was commonly owned, the buffalo population plummeted as hunters would all try to get their game before others. Once the land was divided into parcels & bidded off onto the market, farmers secured the land & bread the buffalo. Why? Because that ensured greater profits over time.
We've seen the same thing with droughts in latin america & parts of africa.
Private property encourages investment into more profitable, sustainable, long-term ventures. Wasting resources is none of the above. Prices are the most efficient system of rationing & allocating resources.
Although the government can technically 'solve' this tragedy, they do so through arbitrary regulatory gatekeeping. Gatekeeping which is often either too cautious, resulting in relatively less yield accrued from the commons, or isn't sufficient so the tragedy's not averted. The tragedies that can occur in the commons are often multifaceted. It's not always as simple as instituting a max on how many cows you can hunt.

[Ghosteriz]

The tragedy of the common like... Oil...
*America has joined the chat*

[Tzizenorec]

The third solution is effectively the second solution, with the first solution wrapped around it. The "group" - at whatever level it acts at - owns the resource (keeping it away from those outside the group, solution 1), and polices its own members (applying top-down rules to those within the group, solution 2). This principle of "capitalism on the outside, communism on the inside" works at any scale.

[nthperson]

Use of the commons must be subject to objectively-established rules based on sustainability considerations. The best way to then grant access to the commons is by competitive bidding for a leasehold interest. The amount anyone would bid would be governed by the anticipation of maximum production subject to restrictions imposed.