Free Rider Problem Essay -- essays research papers

The Free Rider Problem   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The free rider issue has become one of the most serious economic issues today. The free rider is a lazy type person who wants the benefits that others bring in without having to do the work. The free rider typically takes advantage of a public good. Living in a civilized society presents many opportunities for free riding, which we have yet to find a way to control. Economists regard the possibility for free riding as a problem for the free market, which usually leads to government intervention. Government intervention is not generally needed in a free market society but in this case if there were no government intervention this problem would not find a solution.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The free-rider issue is often seen as a serious problem because of the assumption that a free rider's best self-interest is that they interact with others by force and fraud. If they can get away with the fraud and begin to gain the benefits of others they have reached their first goal. Their next goal is to make some good money or get credit for someone else's hard work before they get caught. Then they get out and are long gone by the time anyone notices. Life in a civilized society allows each of us the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of the work of people with productive ability far greater than our own, but what happens when people begin doing this? They get used to not having to do much work and become lazy. In some cases people look at welfare in this way. If a person is able to get a good job and chooses not to, but instead, to live on our government, this would be considered free riding. This causes a fluctuation in our market and it can have a negative effect. When the benefits go away people do not want to go back to work and eventually will loose their jobs or quit and become a true free rider. Clearly there is an essential difference between cases in which one can't contribute to the benefits one enjoys and cases in which one chooses not to make a contribution that is within one's power. But apart from this distinction, we can differentiate between harmless free riding and the worthless free riding. The free rider wants anything he can get for free and will think nothing of it if he can get away with it. Free riders take advantage of public goods without having to contribute to them. For example, if s... ...o make up the difference. This difference we have to make up is usually a higher tax. In raising the tax the price of the good goes up and when price goes up demand tends to go down. As the demand keeps falling and the price keeps rising the product usually ends up off the market and filing a chapter eleven. It typically does not go that far but this is an example of what could happen. A free market is a privilege to have and it is a shame people have to take advantage of it because they do not feel the need to work hard or to go out of their way to do something for someone else.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The free rider is a menace in our society and we do not need to let him take our money and put it to his use. We have found ways such as government intervention and price lids to help control the problem but we have yet to find a solution. Once a solution is found we will have fewer worries and possibly a true free market. These are very difficult problems to stop and may never be stopped. It will take a long period of time to begin the process to bring it to an end, but it will be nice to maybe some day have a true free market without the problem of a free rider.