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Can you explain the tragedy of the commons connection? Are you implying it erodes when there is a lack of coordination and eventually provides sub-optimal outco

by bumby 3y ago

Can you explain the tragedy of the commons connection? Are you implying it erodes when there is a lack of coordination and eventually provides sub-optimal outcomes?

AndrewKemendo 3y ago
It important conceptually to align "commons" with "new markets" because in practice they look the same with respect to consumption. Fishing is my favorite theoretical example here. Assume you are a fisherman looking for fish in the ocean To take an exploration "step" requires work: Acquiring a boat, acquiring fishing tools, having the energy to fish, having time to explore the ocean etc... Once you find a cache of fish, then you switch to exploit by harvesting the fish from the cache This assumes that the fish are not currently the property of someone else, and therefore it is "commons" or a "new market" until claimed by some entity with enough power to exclude others from consumption. The problem is, information in new markets is sparse. By definition you cannot know prior to exploring it, what the size and scope of this fish cache is. However consumption starts PRIOR to the evaluation of the cache and what an appropriate sustainable exploitation rate is because doing so would assume something else: That there is an evaluation of a global optimum for that fish cache as a common resource. Almost no organizations have the incentive to do the above, and history shows that most consumption orgs have narrow near term goals of maximum exploitation. So the groups with the largest amount of energy to expend exploring and then exploiting (aka how much money do you have), will by default monopolize the resource.
- bumby 3y ago
  Thank you for taking the time to explain. I think my initial confusion comes from conflating the "commons" and "new market without ownership." I don't think they are necessarily the same in terms of the "tragedy of the commmons." I don't see why the "commons" has to have anything "new". Take the example of air pollution. The air is a common resource that people have access to without cost, but it's nothing new. So the predicate that "information in new markets is sparse" doesn't apply. >"Almost no organizations have the incentive to do the above" I would argue that collectives, like the government, have this incentive. Hence the need for regulation.

by bumby 3y ago

Can you explain the tragedy of the commons connection? Are you implying it erodes when there is a lack of coordination and eventually provides sub-optimal outcomes?

AndrewKemendo 3y ago

It important conceptually to align "commons" with "new markets" because in practice they look the same with respect to consumption. Fishing is my favorite theoretical example here. Assume you are a fisherman looking for fish in the ocean To take an exploration "step" requires work: Acquiring a boat, acquiring fishing tools, having the energy to fish, having time to explore the ocean etc... Once you find a cache of fish, then you switch to exploit by harvesting the fish from the cache This assumes that the fish are not currently the property of someone else, and therefore it is "commons" or a "new market" until claimed by some entity with enough power to exclude others from consumption. The problem is, information in new markets is sparse. By definition you cannot know prior to exploring it, what the size and scope of this fish cache is. However consumption starts PRIOR to the evaluation of the cache and what an appropriate sustainable exploitation rate is because doing so would assume something else: That there is an evaluation of a global optimum for that fish cache as a common resource. Almost no organizations have the incentive to do the above, and history shows that most consumption orgs have narrow near term goals of maximum exploitation. So the groups with the largest amount of energy to expend exploring and then exploiting (aka how much money do you have), will by default monopolize the resource.

bumby 3y ago
Thank you for taking the time to explain. I think my initial confusion comes from conflating the "commons" and "new market without ownership." I don't think they are necessarily the same in terms of the "tragedy of the commmons." I don't see why the "commons" has to have anything "new". Take the example of air pollution. The air is a common resource that people have access to without cost, but it's nothing new. So the predicate that "information in new markets is sparse" doesn't apply. >"Almost no organizations have the incentive to do the above" I would argue that collectives, like the government, have this incentive. Hence the need for regulation.