If I buy a car, I use the car, you don't, and the market for cars works pretty well. But there are many other sorts of goods, often very important goods, which are not provided well through the market. Often, these go under the heading of public goods.

The Nobel Prize is not very important for the winners - they are usually pretty successful people already. But it is valuable as a way of drawing the public's attention to important work in economics.

How do we ensure in the case of public goods that they are provided at all, and that they are provided at the right level, taking into account citizens' preferences?

Eric Maskin Quotes