Group items tagged

This article talks about how owners of rare artworks are exempt from paying inheritance taxes as long as they allow viewing access to the public. This is somewhat an inverse of the tragedy of the commons where instead of restricting the usage of the "commons", the government encourages allowing more access to the commons. The main reason for this would be because artworks have cultural significance.

Interesting how artworks have been worth so much money and are a private good by ownership, but still are available to the public.Take any museum, its artworks are all privately owned, but have been determined to be part of our culture that cannot remained unseen. It must be public for reasons of conservation.

This article looks at whether education is a public or private good arguing that through education people are able to benefit society and that it should therefore be a public good, so in some senses, it isn't.

The article is a special example of a common good, as it gives us an example of a private property that is now going to be opened to the public. Lisa and Leon Gorman, the prior owners of Lane, an island near the mouth of the royal river in Yarmouth, have donated their private property to the Main Coast Heritage Trust. The Island formerly being a private hunting territory shall now become accessible to the public. It has been recognized as an "ecologically significant site" and shall now become part of Royal River which is being restored and protected. A long-term management plan is being developed, which includes the economic vitality as well as the significance of ecological protection of the Island and its surroundings. Although in a slightly different scenario, this article could give us an example of Elenor Ostroms theory of effectively sustaining resources through a self-motivated community.

This article focusses on Stephen Hawking's view of the NHS. He believes it should not be privatised as health care is crucial for the public. He talks about his own experiences and how he was diagnosed with motor neurone disease and without the NHS he wouldn't be alive today.

This article by the American Heart Association talks about how important and vital defibrillators are in saving someone's life and how the public good should be more accessible.

INTRODUCTION Constitutional historians and lay-persons alike would be alarmed if the United States Government seized five pages of the New York Times in an attempt to increase public access to the media. This adverse reaction would stem from the ...

This article covers the story of how a political party in India promises to eradicate tolls on a road if they get elected into power in the upcoming elections. Currently, it would take over 20 years for the cumulative toll to cover the cost of paying the company which built the roads. If the party does indeed come into power, then they would have to find a space in the budget for five times the current allocated money for road works. The political party saw an opportunity to get publicity by making this promise, since all commuters hate paying tolls.

This article describes three major "tragedies" inflicted on the Great Plains of the midwestern United States. The near-extinction of the bison population, the destruction of the grasslands, and the current issue, the massive drilling and oil fracking. It details the repercussions of these tragedies, including a major reduction in its biodiversity.

This article in "The Economist" discusses differing arguments that support the idea that different radio frequencies should either need to be reserved, and thus be a form of private goods, or be common access resources that could be used by everyone. A specific example that is discussed is the American Federal Communications Commission (FCC) which manages the private reservation of radio frequencies. Overall, I found this interesting as it discusses a new common resource that has arisen due to a development in technology.

This article discusses the increase of consumer spending, even though incomes have remained the same. Consumer spending is the largest source of economic activity, and an increase in spending leads to stronger businesses, which leads to more jobs and better wages. This allows the Federal Reserve to scale back on the Economic Stimulus, which offset diminished consumer spending with public spending.

This article talks about how unemployment dropped from 7.8% to 7.7% in 3 months in the UK. The records also show that the amount of people claiming allowances has also fallen. This shows that job markets are recovering, also, it says that public sector employment has fallen while private sector employment has risen which shows that private businesses have recovered better after the recession.

This article compares the incomes of different households in the US showing the increase percentage in wealthier incomes and the decreased percentage of more poor incomes based on the wealthier income increase. This shows money, which is scare, being unequally distributed throughout a nation.

This article talks about the scarcity of fuel in Abuja. Although the elite people in the area are able to acquire fuel, most public transports could not. Without gasoline, the owners of the transportation vehicle could not go to work. This shows how the lack of a certain product can badly hurt a country and resulting in the government having to spend money to appease the people. Fuel is a limited resource of the earth and is considered scarce.