Discussion: Externalities and Public Goods

Is education a public good? Does education have external benefits? If so, what are some of those public benefits? In your opinion are the external benefits large or small? Why? What should government do to promote the efficient provision of products that have external benefits? If you think that government should put more resources into education, what might be some of the opportunity costs of that decision? How would an economist determine the right amount of government support for education?

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