PUBLIC GOOD: A good that's difficult to keep nonpayers from consuming (excludability), and use of the good by one person doesn't prevent use by others (rival consumption). Examples include national defense, a clean environment, and any fourth of July fireworks display. Public goods are invariably provided by government because there's no way a private business can profitably produce them. Private businesses can't sell public goods in markets, because they can't charge a price and keep nonpaying people away. Moreover, businesses shouldn't charge a price, because there's no opportunity cost for extra consumers. For efficiency, government needs to pay for public goods through taxes.

     See also | good types | excludability | rival consumption | efficiency | market | exchange | market failure | common-property good | near-public good | private good | free-rider problem |

PUBLIC GOOD, AmosWEB GLOSS*arama, http://www.AmosWEB.com, AmosWEB LLC, 2000-2025. [Accessed: May 15, 2025].

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The total income that can be used by the household sector for either consumption expenditures or saving during a given period of time, usually one year. Disposable income (DI) is one of three measures of income reported in the National Income and Product Accounts maintained by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The other two are national income (NI) and personal income (PI). Two related measures of production are gross domestic product (GDP) and net domestic product (NDP).

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Today, you are likely to spend a great deal of time searching for a specialty store wanting to buy either storage boxes for your winter clothes or several magazines on time travel. Be on the lookout for the last item on a shelf.
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