Which scenario is the best example of the tragedy of the commons?

• A. A city builds a toll road that only paying drivers can use.
• B. A group of friends splits the cost of a pizza, but one person refuses to pay.
• C. A company provides free Wi-Fi to its employees in the office.
• D. Villagers overfish a shared lake, leading to depletion of fish stocks for everyone.

Answer: (D)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Understand the concept of the tragedy of the commons: it occurs when individuals, acting independently according to their own self-interest, overuse and deplete a shared resource, leading to negative outcomes for the entire group.
2. Identify the key characteristics of the tragedy of the commons in the given scenarios: look for a shared resource that is rivalrous (one person's use reduces availability for others) and non-excludable (difficult to prevent others from using it).
3. Analyze each option to see if it involves overuse or depletion of a shared resource due to lack of regulation or incentives to conserve:
4. - Toll road: This is an excludable resource because only paying drivers can use it, so it does not fit the tragedy of the commons.
5. - Friends splitting pizza cost: This is a free-rider problem but not about a shared natural resource being depleted.
6. - Free Wi-Fi at work: This is a shared resource but typically not depleted by use in the same way as natural resources.
7. - Villagers overfishing a shared lake: This is a classic example where the shared resource (fish stocks) is overused and depleted, fitting the tragedy of the commons perfectly.