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Explained another way, a public good is available to all such that consumption by one person does not reduce its availability to others.

Explained another way, a public good is available to all such that consumption by one person does not reduce its availability to others.

There is some controversy as to whether any public goods actually exist. For instance, [[lighthouse]]s were once deemed to be public goods, since anyone who sails by can use the lighthouse to avoid hitting reefs, without having to pay a fee. But in some cases, lighthouses have been funded by nearby harbors, without the need for government subsidies.<ref>[http://www.independent.org/publications/working_papers/article.asp?id=757 The Lighthouse as a Private-Sector Collective Good]</ref> Likewise, radio broadcasts are non-excludable and non-rivalrous in that it is difficult to force listeners to pay a fee, but such broadcasts are usually funded through [[advertising]]. The proven economic viability of [[private security]], and the successful outsourcing of certain [[police]] services, such as bad check investigations, to private firms, suggests that even some aspects of the core government function of [[crime control]] might be [[privatized]].

There is some controversy as to whether any public goods actually exist. For instance, [[lighthouse]]s were once deemed to be public goods, since anyone who sails by can use the lighthouse to avoid hitting reefs, without having to pay a fee. But in some cases, lighthouses have been funded by nearby harbors, without the need for government subsidies.<ref>[http://www.independent.org/publications/working_papers/article.asp?id=757 The Lighthouse as a Private-Sector Collective Good]</ref> Likewise, radio broadcasts are non-excludable and non-rivalrous in that it is difficult to force listeners to pay a fee, but such broadcasts are usually funded through [[advertising]]. The proven economic viability of [[private security]] suggests that even some aspects of the core government function of [[crime control]], thought to be a public good, might be [[privatized]].

 

In some cases, a good may be somewhat nonexcludable and nonrivalrous, but nonetheless, the person who pays receives a greater benefit than the freeloaders. An example would be the Lo-Jack security system that can be used by police to triangulate the position of a stolen car. The existence of such devices deters car theft everywhere, since car thieves do not know which cars have it and which don't. But those who buy the device are more likely to be able to recover their vehicles in the event theft does occur.

==Examples==

==Examples==