1.From your window, you can see a city block that's on fire. You watch city firefighters rescue people and battle the flames to save the buildings. Is this a public good? Should the government provide this good or leave it up to the free market?

2.While visiting relatives, you learn that your cousins attend a nearby elementary school that is supported financially by local property tax revenues. Education can be both a public and a private good; what other kind of a good is it? Does the government need to provide free public education? Why or why not?

3.You see a squadron of military jets flying overhead. What kind of good is this? Is it necessary for the government to provide this good? Why or why not?

4.You know an elderly man who receives free prescription drugs from a veterans' hospital. What kind of good is this? Should the government provide these prescription drugs to veterans? Why or why not?

5.You find out that your aunt works for a defense manufacturing company that has several defense contracts with the government. She tells you that she works for a team that is producing a communications satellite. What kind of good is the satellite? Is it necessary for the government to provide communications satellites? Why or why not?

6.Your class visits a local jail run by a private, profit-making company that detains county criminals and is paid with tax revenues. What kind of a good is this prison? Should the government contract private companies to run prisons, or run the prisons itself?