Living Within Limits
Garrett Hardin was the ecologist who coined the phrase tragedy of the commons, the idea that shared resources get overused when no one bears the full cost of their own consumption. In this book he extends that thinking to population, economics, and the environment, arguing that growth without regard for limits leads to ruin. His conclusions are blunt and have drawn sharp debate over the years. Charlie Munger featured it in Poor Charlie's Almanack and regularly gave copies away, drawn to Hardin's habit of following ideas to their hard, unwelcome conclusions.
What you might want to know about Living Within Limits
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
An ecologist argues that population growth and economics cannot ignore physical limits, building on his famous idea of the tragedy of the commons.
It is Garrett Hardin's idea that a shared resource tends to be overused and depleted when individuals act in their own interest without bearing the full cost. It is a central theme of his work.
Living Within Limits was written by Garrett Hardin, published in 1993 by Oxford University Press.
Living Within Limits is 352 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Living Within Limits takes most readers 5 to 8 hours to finish.
Living Within Limits is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.