ABSTRACT
That which I call a collective good is more commonly spoken of by economists as a “public good', a term that misleads the beginner and has also misled economists. 1 Public goods bring to mind the goods provided by the state, such as courts of law, highways, police protection, and often education, public utilities, and medical services. In a thoroughgoing socialist state all goods produced would be public on this conception, whereas it is not wholly impossible to provide every good in the economy, including the armed forces, within a private enterprise economy. The distinction between the category of collective goods and all other goods has to be a functional one. It must hold irrespective of ownership or management. This means that, either within a thorough-going socialist state or else within a thorough-going private enterprise economy, the economist should still be able to distinguish between collective goods and all remaining goods, which may be called private goods.
