The Free-Rider ProblemThe free-rider problem has become one of the most serious economic problems today. The free rider is a lazy person who wants to enjoy the benefits that others provide without having to do the work. The free rider generally benefits from a public good. Living in a civilized society presents many opportunities for free-riding, which we have yet to find a way to control. Economists view the possibility of free riding as a problem for the free market, which usually leads to government intervention. Government intervention is generally not necessary in a free market society, but in this case, without government intervention, this problem would not have a solution. The free rider issue is often considered a serious problem due to the assumption that the free rider's best self-interest is that they interact with others through force and fraud. If they can escape the fraud and start enjoying the benefits of others, they will have achieved their first goal. Their next goal is to make a lot of money or get credit for someone else's hard work before getting caught. Then they come out and are long gone by the time anyone notices. Life in a civilized society gives each of us the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of the work of people with far greater productive capacity than ours, but what happens when people start doing this? They get used to not having to do much work and become lazy. In some cases, people think of welfare this way. If a person is able to get a good job and chooses not to do so, but instead to live off our government, that would be considered free riding. This causes a fluctuation in our market and this can have a negative effect. When benefits disappear, people don't want to return to work and end up losing their jobs or quitting and becoming free riders. There is obviously an essential difference between cases where one cannot contribute to the benefits that one receives and cases where one chooses not to make a contribution that is within one's power. But beyond this distinction, we can differentiate between harmless free riding and worthless free riding. The free rider wants everything he can get for free and won't think about it if he can get away with it. Free riders benefit from public goods without having to contribute to them. For example, if s...... middle of paper ......o make up the difference. This difference we have to make up is usually a higher tax. By increasing the tax, the price of the good increases and when the price increases, demand tends to fall. As demand continues to decline and the price continues to rise, the product usually ends up being removed from the market and is classified as Chapter Eleven. It doesn't usually go that far, but this is an example of what could happen. The free market is a privilege and it's a shame that people have to take advantage of it because they don't feel the need to work hard or go out of their way to do something for someone else. The stowaway is a threat. in our society and we don't need to let him take our money and use it for his benefit. We have found ways such as government intervention and price caps to help control the problem, but we have not yet found a solution. Once a solution is found,..