Over the past couple weeks we have talked about free-riding. In this situation an individual benefits from a public good without actually paying for it. One example we talked about in class was a dam used to protect a small town. This is a public good and benefits everyone. If there were 100 people and everyone but one person paid, that person would receive the benefit of the dam without paying.
The past two years I've lived in a house with 17 people. It's a great living situation except for the matter of dishes. Oftentimes there are dishes in the sink left to "soak" and then never washed, dishes under couches, and an always full dishwasher. Everyone puts dirty dishes in the dishwasher but no one likes to unload the dishwasher. If the dishes weren't washed or dishwasher unloaded no one would have dishes to use for meals. This created a free-rider problem because there were two people who actually did the dishes and everyone else benefitted from their hard work.
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