What is the Tragedy of the Commons

This echoes the writings of thomas robert malthus, who observed in 1798 the population growth rate inevitably outpaces food production, leading to widespread starvation.It is a major cause of environmental market failure.When one person uses a common resource, they diminish other people's enjoyment of it.The phenomenon was first described in a pamphlet by economist william forster lloyd in 1833 in a discussion of the overgrazing of cattle on village common areas.The idea of the tragedy of the commons was made popular by the american ecologist garrett hardin, who used the analogy of ranchers grazing their animals on a common field.The tragedy of the commons is a situation where players cooperate or everyone loses, yet each individual has incentive not to cooperate.

Lloyd wanted to know why the cattle in british common pastures were so scrawny and found that overuse of common grazing lands meant there wasn't enough grass for all the cows to eat.It has been used as an argument for establishing (or increasing) property rights, privatisation, and government regulation.There are three ways of dealing with a tragedy of the commons problem:For example, in fishing, if fishing provides an income, then each fisher would have his or her own best.What is the tragedy of the commons?