Even economists who advocate small government agree that national defense is a good that the government should provide.
The correct answer and explanation is :
Correct Answer:
Public Good
Explanation:
National defense is considered a public good in economic terms, which means it has two key characteristics:
- Non-excludability – No individual or group can be effectively excluded from benefiting from national defense once it is provided. For example, if a country establishes a military to protect against foreign threats, all citizens within that country benefit, regardless of whether they contribute directly to its funding.
- Non-rivalry – One person’s consumption of national defense does not reduce the amount available to others. If a country’s military prevents an attack, it does so for all citizens simultaneously without diminishing the protection for any single individual.
Even economists who support small government, such as free-market advocates, recognize that national defense is a necessary government function. This is because private markets are unlikely to provide an adequate level of national defense due to the free-rider problem—people can benefit from it without paying, leading to underfunding if left to voluntary contributions.
Governments solve this issue by collecting taxes to fund national defense, ensuring that it is provided at a scale necessary to maintain security. Unlike private goods (such as food or cars), which are efficiently allocated through markets, national defense requires centralized provision and funding because its benefits cannot be restricted to only those who pay for it.
Additionally, national defense serves as a collective action problem, where individual citizens or states within a country may lack the incentive to contribute to national security independently. A central authority (government) is necessary to coordinate and finance defense efforts to ensure the safety of the entire nation.
Thus, even proponents of minimal government intervention agree that national defense is a fundamental public good that justifies government provision.