Case Study #17

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Professor’s Name
Subject Title
Date
The Tragedy of the Commons
Definition
This is an economic problem where every person tries to gain and reap the most significant benefit from any given resource. The tragedy of the common is a situation which occurs when a person neglects the well-being of the entire society for personal gains only. This economic problem occurs when the demand of a particular service or products overwhelms the supply of the same, and the consumption of an additional unit of the resource directly affects the other person negatively where the person is not in a position to enjoy the benefit of the resource. This economic problem is as a result of the increased human population where the supply of a resource is unable to offer enough satisfaction to the whole society (Iizuka & Katz, 2017).
Case study application
The villagers measured the marginal benefit of adding a new calf to the small herd as an addition of a source of meat and milk and leather which was a substantial benefit both for the farmer and the whole household. The marginal cost to this addition of one calf in the land of the common was that if the farmer added one calf to the common property after its birth the goodness of the grass in the area of commons would decrease and as a result the quality of the cattle might diminish as they will have to forage harder which may lead to thinness of the animals.
Measuring marginal benefit and cost
The tragedy of the common found it…