In economics, collective bargaining, psychology, and political science, a free rider (or freeloader) is someone who enjoys the benefits of an activity without paying for it. The free rider may withhold effort or resources, or may impose the costs of his or her activities on others. The free rider problem is the question of how to limit free riding (or its negative effects). One consequence of free riding is the excessive use of a common property resource: because people do not take into account the impacts of their actions on others, they take too much from the common pool. In public economics, free riding can lead to the non-production or under-production of a public good. In both of these cases, free riding leads to Pareto inefficiency. Free riding can, however, have positive consequences. For example, a member of a cartel who increases his or her output, "free riding" upon the efforts of others, is actually contributing to greater economic efficiency.

The term free rider comes from the example of someone using public transportation without paying the fare. If too many people do this, the system will not have enough money to operate. Another example of a free rider is someone who does not pay his or her share of taxes, which help pay for public goods that all citizens benefit from, such as roads, water treatment plants, and fire services.

Free rider may refer to the following:

See also Conductor (transportation) or Freedom ride.

Dr. Mark Kenneth Jaccard (born April 12, 1955 in Vancouver, British Columbia) is a professor of environmental economics in the School of Resource and Environmental Management (REM) at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada. Dr. Jaccard develops and applies models that assess sustainability policies for energy and material.

Dr. Jaccard has been a professor at Simon Fraser University since 1986. He served as Chair and CEO of the B.C. Utilities Commission (1992 to 1997), on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (1993 to 1996; Nobel Peace Prize in 2007), and on the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (1996 to 2001). Until 2005 Dr. Jaccard taught ecological economics at REM and he continues to teach courses on energy and materials management, policy and energy and materials systems modeling. Currently, he is a lead author on the Global Energy Assessment (due in 2011), a member of Canada's National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy and a special advisor to the Canadian Council of Chief Executives. In 2007, he won the SFU President's Award for Media and his book, Sustainable Fossil Fuels, won the Donner Prize for best policy book in Canada. In 2008 he was named the BC Academic of the Year by the Confederation of University Faculty Associations and in 2009 he was named a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. Dr. Jaccard is also responsible for the Canadian Industrial Energy End-use Data and Analysis Centre and is part owner in M.K. Jaccard and Associates Inc., a private consulting group based in Vancouver.

Michael McBride (Irish: Mícheál Mac Giolla Bhríde; born 20 January 1982) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays for Derry, with whom he has won a National League title. He plays his club football for St. Colm's Ballinascreen. For both club and county he usually plays in the half back line. His brother Dermot has also played on occasion for Derry.

McBride was a substitute on the Derry panel that finished runners-up to Tyrone in the 2005 Dr. McKenna Cup. He was later called up to the Derry panel during the 2007 Championship for cover, but did not play in any games. He worked his way into the Derry team in the 2008 McKenna Cup (where Derry again reached the final) and the 2008 National League, which Derry won defeating Kerry in the final. He made his Championship debut later that year in the defeat to Monaghan.

McBride won a Derry ACFL Division 2 title with Ballinacreen in 2008, promoting the club back into Division 1.

Note: The above lists may be incomplete. Please add any other honours you know of.

Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party for President of the United States in the 2012 election. He was the 70th Governor of Massachusetts (2003–07).

The son of Lenore and George W. Romney (Governor of Michigan, 1963–69), he was raised in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. In 1966, after one year at Stanford University, he left the United States to spend thirty months in France as a Mormon missionary. In 1969, he married Ann Davies, and the couple had five children together. In 1971, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Brigham Young University and, in 1975, a joint Juris Doctor and Master of Business Administration from Harvard University as a Baker Scholar. He entered the management consulting industry, which in 1977, led to a position at Bain & Company. Later serving as Chief Executive Officer, he helped bring the company out of financial crisis. In 1984, he co-founded the spin-off Bain Capital, a private equity investment firm that became highly profitable and one of the largest such firms in the nation. His net worth is estimated at $190–250 million, wealth that has helped fund his political campaigns. Active in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he served as Ward Bishop and later Stake President in his area near Boston. He ran as the Republican candidate in the 1994 U.S. Senate election in Massachusetts, losing to long-time incumbent Ted Kennedy. In 1999, he was hired as President and CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the 2002 Winter Olympics and Paralympics; and he helped turn the fiscally troubled games into a success.