step in to address the issue.

The Definition of a Public Good

Economists have a strict definition of a public good, and it does not necessarily include all goods financed

through taxes. To understand the defining characteristics of a public good, first consider an ordinary private

good, like a piece of pizza. We can buy and sell a piece of pizza fairly easily because it is a separate and

identifiable item. However, public goods are not separate and identifiable in this way.

Instead, public goods have two defining characteristics: they are nonexcludable and non-rival. The first

characteristic, that a public good is nonexcludable, means that it is costly or impossible to exclude someone

from using the good. If Larry buys a private good like a piece of pizza, then he can exclude others, like Lorna,
from eating that pizza. However, if national defense is provided, then it includes everyone. Even if you strongly
{"upload_timestamp": "2026-02-07T15:24:38.309401", "title": "Principles of Microeconomics 3e", "source": "downloads\\business\\economics\\Microeconomics3e.pdf", "creationdate": "2022-12-07T14:15:44-06:00", "uploaded_via": "batch_uploader", "total_pages": 597, "file_name": "Microeconomics3e.pdf", "producer": "Prince 14.2 (www.princexml.com)", "moddate": "2022-12-07T14:23:05-06:00", "file_type": ".pdf", "creator": "PDFMiner", "source_file": "downloads\\business\\economics\\Microeconomics3e.pdf", "file_size_mb": 26.99, "file_hash": "830b81f41611ac67a490444dbb5d6aed292224606965b06965b914443c93331a", "batch_upload": true}