Public Goods

A desire for more shoes can be cured by a trip to a shoe store. But suppose you want more pub­lic parks or a stronger national defense. If you voluntarily send a check to the National Park Service or the Department of Defense, even if they spend your money wisely you will not have appreciably better access to parks or be notice­ably better defended. The problem is that these are examples of public goods. Public goods are both nonrival, because people can consume the same units of such goods simultaneously, and nonexclusive, because denying people access to such goods is prohibitively expensive.

A public good can be enjoyed by numerous in­dividuals at the same time (nonrivalry); once a public good is available, denying access to a con­sumer is prohibitively expensive (nonexclusion).

Prisons are examples of public goods because keeping violent criminals behind bars makes the world safer for the rest of us. We need not com­pete with each other to use public goods once they are produced because public goods do not involve rivalry. Most goods are private goods that are rival and exclusive.

• Rivalry and Nonrivalry Consumption ex­hausts a rival good so that no one else can con­sume the same unit. No one else can consume a particular apple if you eat it first. You cannot use my ski pants if I am wearing them. Food and clothing are rival goods. We can, however, enjoy the same TV program without rivalry. When your TV receives signals, it does not affect the signals to mine. A police patrol can simultane­ously protect both you and your neighbor from burglars. Police protection and TV broadcasts are examples of nonrival goods.

Because consuming a rival good such as an apple uses up scarce resources, it is efficient that consumers pay for each unit consumed. On the other hand, for such nonrival goods as TV broadcast signals, hours spent in front of the TV do not diminish those signals. Compelling peo­ple to pay for TV signals based on their level of consumption would discourage consumption without any offsetting benefit, thus introducing inefficiency. (Although some critics of the tube would disagree.)

• Exclusion and Nonexclusion Restaurants can refuse to serve you unless you wear a shirt and shoes. A theater can require you to buy a ticket before seeing a film. Movies and meals are exclusive goods. But if the Air Force protects you from attacks by foreign enemies, your neighbor is protected automatically. The Air Force can­not guard you against attack and not protect your neighbor. National defense is a nonexclu­sive good. Nonexclusion occurs whenever it is prohibitively expensive to prevent people from enjoying a good once it is provided.

Government provides most public goods. For example, our legal system enables all of us to resolve most disputes without constantly re­sorting to violence. Other public goods include traffic lights, weather reports, AIDS research, democratic government, and national defense. Once the military is maintained and ready, every person in the United States consumes defense services simultaneously, and we all receive this protection whether we pay taxes or not, and whether we want it or not! An important note: public provision does not require public pro­duction. For example, government increasingly relies on private contractors to maintain streets, collect trash, and staff our prisons and public hospitals. 2824 digits

Дата добавления: 2015-07-10