Public goods are goods or services that are being provided by either the government or private entity for free to the public. Public goods has two main characteristics: the Non- rivalry of public goods and the Non-excludability of public goods.
The Non-rivalry of goods means that when a public good is consumed by an individual, it does not reduce the amount of availability for other consumers. A good example of this characteristic is the benefit we get from watching TV programs. No matter how much we watched the TV program, it does not reduce the amount of programs available for others to watch.
The Non-excludability of public goods means that it is impossible to make a public good without making it accessible to others. A good example of this characteristic is the benefit we get from National Security. The government can’t exclude someone from benefiting from the national security.
