In Chapter 1, we discuss some of the standard introductory concepts in any economics course. After defining scarcity and discussing the importance of incentives, we focus on the presence/absence of property rights (in general and in the workplace) – and introduce the “Prisoner’s Dilemma” with applications to various “tragedies of the commons” and “tragedies of the anticommons” in firms and the economy.

Chapter 8 first provides an overview of the stipulations regarding how things held in tenancy in common (the most common co-ownership form of property around the world) should be administered and sold, as well as co-owner agreements not to partition. Then, Chapter 8 addresses whether the several types of rules lead to underuse or overuse — that is, whether tenancy in common may lead to tragedy of the commons or anticommons. The prevalent doctrine that provides one co-owner with a unilateral power to call for partition avoids a long-term tragedy but underinvestment and underuse of co-owned resources are still likely. This chapter ends with a proposed solution to ameliorate the underinvestment and underuse problems.

Chapter 5 commences by discussing how intellectual property rights and patents affect the rate and direction of progress. The idea behind intellectual property rights in general is to incentivize innovation by allowing the holders of the patents to capture a larger share of the returns on these research investments. On the face of it, this seems like a fair bargain. The person who discovers something should be compensated with the ability to get a higher return on investment on it than the rest of the population. But can patents actually stifle modern day medical innovation? These concerns, and the extent to which they hold true, are the main focus of Chapter 6. Later in the chapter, the role of regulation more generally in influencing the trajectory is discussed. The chapter explores how regulation can act both as a deterrent and as a stimulator of medical progress, using the regulation of MDMA in the United States and Orphan Drug Designations as case examples to explore this dynamic.