Public Goods

Public goods are commodities or services that fulfill the needs, wants, and ideals of a society and are generally instrumental to economic development. Otherwise called collective or social goods, public goods can be enjoyed by everyone, without exclusion or rivalry. They are available to all, and one’s consumption of such goods leads to no reduction in the quality and quantity available to another. Some examples of public goods include fresh air, public infrastructure, and national defense. By no means, however, are public goods only produced, provided, and controlled by the public sector, though this is most often the case. The provision and distribution of public goods are explained to be an outcome of political competition through top-down and bottom-up processes, where elite groups and different ...