*An economic [theory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons) that describes a situation where individuals, acting in their own self-interest, overuse and deplete a shared resource, leading to its eventual destruction. This [occurs](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/tragedy-of-the-commons.asp) because each person benefits directly from using the resource, while the costs of overuse are distributed among all users. The [concept](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons) was popularized by ecologist Garrett Hardin in his 1968 essay, where he illustrated it with the example of communal grazing lands.*