2)Choose a/b/c/or D (briefly explain your choice)
police Protections is: a/b/c/d
Snow plowing is: a/b/c/d
Education is: a/b/c/d/
Rural roads is: a/b/c/d
City Streets are: a/b/c/d

A)Public Good
b)Private Good
c)Natural Monopoly
d)Common Resource

"Public good.  A commodity whose benefits are indivisibly spread among
the entire community, whether or not particular individuals desire to
consume the public good.  For example, a public-health measure that
eradicates smallpox protects all, not just those paying for the
vaccinations.  To be contrasted with private goods, such as bread,
which, if consumed by one person, cannot be consumed by another
person."  Page 745

"Natural monopoly.  A firm or industry whose average cost per unit of
production falls sharply over the entire range of its output, as for
example in local electricity distribution.  Thus a single firm, a
monopoly, can supply the industry output more efficiently than can
multiple firms."  Page 742

"Many of our natural resources are owned by no one.  Such resources
are common property resources, like the town commons of New England
villages."  Page 268

"During peak periods, many airports get very congested, with flight
circling in the air and lined up on the runways.  Economists like
Alford, and have proposed using peak-load "congestion fees" to ration
out the scarce landing rights.  These would raise ticket prices during
peak periods enough to persuade some people to reschedule their
flights to off-peak times."  Page 268

Police protection: A-Public Good.  The police protect everyone in a
given location, regardless of who is paying for the service.

Snowplowing: A-Public Good.  The plowed roads are available to
everyone, not just the people who paid for them.

Education: B-Private Good.  Education is only available to those who
are sitting in the classroom, not to everyone who paid for it.

Rural roads: C-Natural Monopoly.  Having a single provider of roads
rather than multiple providers of redundant roads where relatively
little traffic exists is far more efficient.

City streets: D-Common Resource.  City streets are vulnerable to
congestion (overuse) like the airport example cited above because
their scarcity is rarely reclaimed through pricing.  However, the City
of London has introduced a vehicle tax to address this problem.

Source: "Economics" 14th edition by Samuelson & Nordhaus, McGraw-Hill
Inc., 1992

Sincerely,

Wonko

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Request for Answer Clarification by k9queen-ga on 10 Oct 2003 09:41 PDT

why do you think the government provides items that are not public goods?

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Clarification of Answer by wonko-ga on 10 Oct 2003 13:01 PDT

A lot of government programs serve limited "special interests."  This
occurs for a variety of reasons.  For people with rare diseases, for
whom there is no economic incentive for drug companies to develop
treatments, it is a moral issue. In other cases, resources are
deployed because they will generate additional tax revenues even
though they benefit a limited audience.  Also, politically powerful
individuals or groups can gain government resources by threatening to
campaign against the sitting politicians.

Sincerely,

Wonko