ABSTRACT
Examples of public goods include: clean environment, national defence, the police, the fire service, highways, public parks, public libraries, public hospitals and so on. Of course some of these are more excludable than others. No one can be prevented from enjoying the benefits of clean air. Similarly if the army goes to war, it does so for every citizen regardless of who paid their taxes or not. If your house is on fire the firemen will show up and fight the fire without asking whether your taxes are up-to-date or whether you contributed when they held a bake-sale at the firehouse last month. But the more drivers there are on the highway that takes you to the beach on a sunny summer weekend, the slower the progress and some people might look at the traffic and decide not to go out at all. In this case the ones who decide to stay home are excluded at the expense of those who are on the road. Thus, highways are more excludable – and in one sense less of a public good – than the environment.
