William Forster Lloyd facts for kids

William Forster Lloyd FRS (1794 – 2 June 1852) was an important British thinker who studied economics. He lived a long time ago, from 1794 to 1852. He is mostly remembered today for his ideas about how people use shared resources, which helped shape modern economic thinking.

About William Forster Lloyd

William Forster Lloyd was born in 1794 in a place called Bradenham, England. He was one of many children, the fourth son of Thomas Lloyd, who was a church leader. His older brother, Charles Lloyd, also became a well-known bishop.

William went to school at Westminster School and then studied at Christ Church, Oxford University. He finished his first degree in 1815 and a master's degree in 1818. He became a teacher at Oxford, giving lectures on Greek and math. From 1832 to 1837, he was a special professor of Political Economy, which is the study of how countries manage their money and resources.

In 1834, he was chosen to be a Fellow of the Royal Society, which is a very old and respected group of scientists. William Forster Lloyd passed away in 1852 in Prestwood, England.

Important Ideas and Lectures

William Lloyd published several of his lectures, sharing his ideas with others. Two of his most famous ideas came from these lectures.

The Tragedy of the Commons

In his 1833 lectures, Two Lectures on the Checks to Population, Lloyd talked about a problem that happens when many people share a resource. He described how people might overuse a shared area, like a pasture for cattle. This idea was later called "The Tragedy of the Commons" by another scientist, Garrett Hardin.

Lloyd's main point was simple:

• If you put more cattle in your own field, you quickly see if there's enough grass. If there isn't, your cattle won't do well.
• But if you put more cattle on a shared common field, the problem is spread out. Your cattle eat some grass, but so do everyone else's. It's harder to see the damage you're causing, so people keep adding more cattle.

This can lead to the shared resource being completely used up or ruined because no one person feels the full impact of their actions. It's like if everyone in a class uses up all the shared pencils without replacing them.

Diminishing Marginal Utility

In another set of lectures from 1837, Lectures on Population, Value, Poor Laws and Rent, Lloyd also talked about something called "diminishing marginal utility". This is a fancy way of saying that the more of something you have, the less extra happiness or usefulness you get from having one more of it.

For example, if you are very thirsty, the first glass of water is super helpful. The second glass is also good, but maybe not as amazing as the first. By the fifth glass, you might not want any more at all! Lloyd connected this idea to how people decide what things are worth.

William F. Lloyd's Main Books

• Lecture on the Notion of Value, as distinguished not only from utility, but also from value in exchange, 1833.
• Two Lectures on the Checks to Population, 1833.
• Four Lectures on Poor-Laws, 1835.
• Two Lectures on the Justice of the Poor-Laws and One Lecture on Rent, 1837.
• Lectures on Population, Value, Poor Laws and Rent, 1837.