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You are exactly right about that, not sure where the down votes are coming from.

• cortesoft 6y ago
  They aren’t right... it isn’t a tragedy of the commons, because it doesn’t involve the overuse of a shared resource. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons A tragedy of the commons is ALSO a collective action problem, but is not the same kind as what we are seeing here.
  • hnracer 6y ago
    Yes I'm aware of that definition, and I still think it is a legitimate example of tragedy of the commons. The commons here is an abstract one: it's the lack of incentive within a society to perform a kidnapping, which is a shared benefit/resource. The family of the victim who decides to pay the ransom is taking from this commons (by decreasing the lack of incentive), making everyone worse off in expectation, in order to benefit only themselves and the specific victim they're trying to help.