1. Thread on Public Goods & why they matter to all of us, rich or poor. There’s a class of things that economists refer to as “public goods”. They don’t diminish because others benefit from them & you can’t exclude others from enjoying them. A common example is street lights.

2. If a tower light is installed in a neighbourhood, everyone will benefit. The trouble with such goods is something called the “free-rider effect”. Since everyone can enjoy it, there is no incentive to pay for it. You can avoid it, thinking someone will instal the light anyway.

3. But if everyone thinks that way, the neighbourhood will end up with no tower light. Or let’s use a nose-hitting example: there will be no sewer system & the neighbourhood will stink no end, with sewage running all over the place. I cite both examples because they are common.

4. Therefore, such goods are usually provided by a public authority. That authority in turn has the power to tax people. So it uses public funds to deliver these goods. If a bridge is built, everyone whether rich or poor can use it. If a sewer system is built, everyone can use it

5. Likewise, no one will want to keep a fire brigade service to themselves, even if they were rich. The likelihood of needing it regularly is slim. But one day, you may just need it. That’s why it’s good to have a public fire brigade service that works. It benefits everyone.

6. It therefore makes sense to ensure society has efficient public goods. But there are at least 2 problems: 1st, some people, however wealthy, dodge taxes. 2nd, those who collect taxes & manage public funds tend to loot through corruption. The result is poor public goods.

7. So you might end up with a society that has a few very wealthy individuals but extremely poor public goods, a Lamborghini on a potholed road or dark streets. It will have no fire brigade service; no ambulance service; no sewer system & other public goods.

8. Some might say we will build our own exclusive schools for our kids and they exist. But how safe is it to live in a society where the rest are poorly educated or even uneducated at all? That’s why it’s good to have a public education system that works. Education is good.

9. Some might decide to get together to provide these goods for themselves. So a wealthy neighbourhood might build its private sewer system. A community might create a neighbourhood watch committee to provide security. COVID19 got people to revive defunct hospitals.

10. The pandemic was a rude reminder of the fact that the public health care system matters to everyone, rich or poor. It’s a pity that it is in times of death, especially when a wealthy individual does that the stark reality of the paucity of public goods because so plain.

11. The truth is we have been witnessing the decline of public goods for a long time. Unfortunately, those who should care often ignore the pleas of the ordinary people, believing those are poor people’s problems. Everyone should care about how society is governed & take part.

12. When people like Hopewell Chin’ono are fighting corruption, they are fighting for public goods that benefit everyone. He is put in jail by Mnangagwa. Yet, those who loot like Obadiah Sibanda, Prisca Mupfumira, Henrietta Rushwaya & countless others are treated with kindness.

13. Fadzayi Mahere once said corruption is killing us. When babies die in a public hospital because it doesn’t have equipment, it is because public funds for health are being looted. Likewise, when someone dies because the sockets are so dated that you can’t use a ventilator.

14. I go back to where I started: there’s little incentive for individuals to pay for public goods, which means a public authority often has to take that task. But if people either dodge taxes or taxes are looted, the result is catastrophic for everyone. We have to fix that.