The purpose of economics is to explain complex interaction between systems. Analogy is a powerful communication tool. Such phrases allow us to communicate and r

The purpose of economics is to explain complex interaction between systems. Analogy is a powerful communication tool. Such phrases allow us to communicate and reason about systems. The concepts raise the standard of policy development. Consider how much easier it is to discuss a proposal thanks to 'The Tragedy of the Commons'. Those few words serve as a shorthand for a dynamic. Without it you might need to spend half an hour stepping people through the dynamic each time you wanted to refer to it, and you would lose people along the way.