Toxic Public Goods

Authors

Brian L. Frye

Abstract

Everybody loves public goods. After all, they are a perpetual utility machine. Obviously, we want as many of them as possible. But what if the consumption of a public good actually decreases net social welfare? I refer to this kind of public good as a "toxic public good." In this essay, I discuss three kinds of potential toxic public goods: trolling, pornography, and ideology, and I reflect on how we might make the production of toxic public goods more efficient.

First Page

1

Recommended Citation

Brian L. Frye, Toxic Public Goods, 74 Me. L. Rev. 1 (2022).
Available at: https://digitalcommons.mainelaw.maine.edu/mlr/vol74/iss1/2