Is the only form of reasonable regulation self regulation?
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Lessons from Lin Ostrom on regulating the commons and cultivating citizens by Peter J. Boettke of the Mercatus Center. One of the grand dilemmas of political economy is the recognition that when we turn to government to solve our problems we necessarily create a new set of problems that previously did not exist that must nowbe addressed.The costs of addressing these problems seldom outweighs the benefits of turning to government, but only that we need to be conscious of the fact that we have in fact created a new set of problems to contend with and contending with it entails costs that must be taken into account.
The work of the Ostroms certainly isn’t blind to formal government. But their work asks us to think more broadly about governance --- the formal andinformal rules of the social game that tame, harness and check our passions, and the mechanisms of enforcement that ensure effective governance even in the most unexpected environments. How actually does good governance work in situations when it shouldn’t, and how do individuals in these societies develop the capacities necessary to be selfgoverning citizens, are the questions their work forces us to consider.
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