Ochoa 1

Vanessa Ochoa

Professor Carter

Econ-01-52001

05-10-21

“Jiro Dreams of Sushi”

1. Describe, in your own words, what is meant by the “Tragedy of the Commons.”

The tragedy of the commons is when many people want to buy something which is quite

common, meaning it is available to everyone. However, when people begin to get a lot of that

resource, it can become scarce since people only care about consuming and not how it may leave

damage overall. Moreover, when one person begins to consume too much, it leaves other people

with a less amount of being able to consume that same good.

2. Can you think of any local examples of this idea?

A local example of this idea is population growth. Recently Merced has begun building many

more homes because there is now a larger capacity of people. The common would be the land

that is being taken up. We are beginning to limit our resources of wildlife because we are

choosing to tear down trees and animals' homes for our own personal benefit.

3. Why do you think sushi was so expensive when Jiro’s son was a child?
Sushi was so expensive during Jiro’s son was a child because fish was sold at a higher price due

to being larger, and it would take about ten years for them to reach one hundred kilograms.
 4. Why do you think today sushi has become so ubiquitous and cheap?

Sushi has become very ubiquitous and cheap because people are having a larger incentive to buy

it. Not to mention how many people are overfishing and taking the small fish as well as the

massive fish. This means that there is more fish to sell and is beginning to become a common

good for now.

5. What should happen to the price of sushi as the supply of fish declines?
The price of sushi should begin to rise if the supply of fish begins to decline. This way people

will have less of an incentive to want to buy sushi, meaning that there would be less reason to

catch more fish. If this happens for a period, we will start to see the supply of fish slowly begin

to rise.