Greetings from: Our favorite public goods

Public goods serve as the foundational infrastructure of modern society, defined by their non-excludable nature and the fact that one person's use does not diminish availability for others. Atomic clocks in Colorado exemplify this by providing the precise resonant frequencies necessary for GPS, power grids, and internet stability worldwide. Beyond timekeeping, large-scale scientific endeavors like the Large Hadron Collider generate immense economic value through indirect discoveries in refrigeration and magnets, while environmental initiatives like Africa’s Great Green Wall aim to restore ecosystems and capture carbon across the continent. Global security also functions as a public good, illustrated by the "Freedom of the Seas" doctrine which suppresses piracy to maintain low consumer prices. From the "Muppet" planes of NOAA gathering essential weather data to the satellite-driven GPS systems in smartphones, these collective investments provide essential services that private markets alone would not sustain.