The Tragedy of the Commons by Garrett Hardin is pretty good, and is considered a classic.<p><a href="http://www.garretthardinsociety.org/articles/art_tragedy_of_the_commons.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.garretthardinsociety.org/articles/art_tragedy_of_...</a><p>It's in the field of population biology, but the principles are broadly applicable to any system where self-interested actors can gain more than they lose by actions that hurt the community.