ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses three global public goods and explains their characteristics and challenges from an economic perspective. It introduces the notion of commons and common-pool resources. These are a variation on public goods: they are collective goods, not financed and supplied by the state. Commons are used, owned, preserved, or protected by collectives, not individuals. Think about nature reserves, cultural heritage, and joint agricultural land. Primary education is largely financed by tax revenue. This is often from a national/federal or state-level tax base. This includes the general tax revenue, which is a combination of income taxes, profit taxes, value added taxes, property taxes, import taxes, etc. The national/federal or state budget will allocate part of this general tax revenue to primary education, both to its investment costs and to its consumption costs. The public pension system may be financed not through taxation but through social insurance.
