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Macro & Economy

Public Good

Also called: public goods, non-excludable good, free rider problem

A public good is non-rival and non-excludable: one person's use doesn't reduce another's, and nobody can practically be kept out. National defence, street lighting and basic research qualify. Markets underprovide them because of free riding — if you'll benefit anyway, you won't pay — which is the cleanest economic argument for taxation rather than a moral one.

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