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Elinor Ostrom and the tragedy of the ‘Tragedy of the Commons’
A great economist’s work shows that we can in fact share the world’s resources in ways that are not only fair but sustainable, explains NICK MATTHEWS
LANDMARK: Elinor Ostrom was the first woman to win a Nobel prize in economics [Holger Motzkau 2010 / Creative Commons]

FULL marks to Full Marx, for their demolition of the “Tragedy of the Commons” thesis in these pages on Monday. As the authors point out, in the original essay, published in 1968 by University of California professor Garrett Hardin in the journal Science, he sees all humans as selfish herders: we worry that our neighbours’ cattle will graze the best grass. 

So, we send more of our cows out to consume that grass first. We take it first, before someone else steals our share. This creates a vicious cycle of environmental degradation that Hardin described as the “tragedy of the commons.” 

It may seem ridiculous now but Hardin, a white supremacist, presented no evidence for this assertion. Yet is difficult to underestimate the impact this idea has had on the environment, the economy and our society. 

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