Roads, Public Goods, and Focal Points
The Answer Is Transaction Costs
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The Cost of Exclusion
If a good is rival and excludable at low transaction cost, then it's a public good. There are very few pure private goods because exclusion always requires some transaction costs. Exclusion is all about transaction cost, in fact, all the way down. Calling something a public good is a trick to say you think that the state should use tax money to give you and your friends something that you want.
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