Questions were:

on a piece of paper, write:

Your name

Without using an example used in class today, give

1. An example of a Pure Public Good

a pure public good combines two characteristics:

1) Its consumption is non-rival, i.e. that you are consuming a unit of it in no way detracts from the possibility of somebody else consuming the same unit of it; and

2) Exclusion is non-feasible, i.e. once a unit of it has been produced, there is no way to prevent somebody, anybody, from consuming it.

Good examples are hard to find. On a local basis, one would be downtown street lighting at night. If the lights are on, they are on for everybody there, and the number of people makes no difference to how light it is (hence consumption non-rival); and you cannot have the lights on for local residents who pay taxes and not on for visitors -- if they are on, they will be on for all (hence exclusion is non-feasible, if you are going to allow everybody to go downtown).

2. An example of a Pure Private Good

Most goods fall into this category; these are goods (or services) for which consumption is rival, and exclusion is feasible. Hence anything qualifies where if I consume a unit of it, you can't; and if I'm not willing to pay for it, the producer can stop me getting it. Most material goods are like this, e.g. food items, drinks, clothing, furniture, etc. Many services are also like this, e.g. while my favorite barber is cutting my hair, she can't cut your's.

3. An explanation of why/how they differ [i.e. the difference between a Pure Public and Pure Private good].

Basically, this is done above. A pure public good has the characteristics that its consumption is non-rival and exclusion is non-feasible; a pure private good has the characteristics that its consumption is rival and exclusion is feasible. Markets will tend to work well, and potentially can be "efficient," for private goods. They typically have some problems with other types of goods, and generally will not work at all for pure public goods.

Remember: Public versus Private goods has NOTHING to do with whether the public or private sector produces the good or service; it has to do with the characteristics with respect to rivalness of consumption and feasibility of exclusion.