I misssed a comment for many who probably are not familiar with the old British term “The tragedy of the commons”. This referred to villages that had public areas where animals could feed (for example). The villagers had no incentive to manage the field for future growth because it was a commons and the person investing would see little or no return but those who saw and took advantage would have a high return … until the field was wasted and worn out.

A profound point of this article is that the most important “commons” are information platforms. The commons, while still needed maintenance produce “increasing returns” — which are contrary to the old economic of “decreasing returns”. Decreasing returns refers not only to trashing physical commons but also to the decreasing return from, say, each ton of fertilier you put on your field. The first ton provides great value. The last return represents a loss on the added ton.