Your economics professor assigns a group project for the course.Describe the free-rider problem that can lead to a suboptimal outcome for your group.To combat this problem, the instructor asks you to evaluate the contribution of your peers in a confidential report.Will this evaluation have the desired effects?

Public goods are often thought to be goods or services that are provided by the government, but that is confusing cause and effect.What are the characteristics of a public good?Hint: Who provides the public good is not one of the characteristics.Consider open educational resources (OER), for example, open textbooks.Make a case for why OER can be considered public goods.Hint:Who covers the cost of providing these products and why is that relevant to your answer?