Libertarian Majority: Public And Private Goods, Natural Resources and Monopolies

Public And Private Goods, Natural Resources and Monopolies

	Rival multiple consumers cannot consume the same good	Non-Rival multiple consumers can consume the same good
Excludable consumption can be detected and prevented by producer	= Private Goods Efficiently produced and allocated by markets agriculture, minerals, artifacts labor, services land parcels rain and sunlight incident on land parcels	= Club Goods ("Natural Monopoly") High fixed costs, low marginal costs => inefficient competition (uncongested) highways and bridges water and sewage lines wired telecom networks (not content) power distribution (not generation) aggression deterrance (police/courts); fire protection service
Non-Excludable consumption cannot be detected or prevented	= Common Goods ("Natural Resources") Tragedy of the commons, negative externalities => overconsumption atmosphere, bodies and streams of water, pollution sinks sunlight, wind, fish, game, genomes unowned land and space; orbits electromagnetic spectrum; some namespaces	= Public Goods Free riders, positive externalities => underproduction national defense (uncongested) local streets language, scientific knowledge, open source software, jokes prevention of contagion, conflagration, flood anti-poverty safety net (assuming most people favor charity)

Libertarian Majority