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What we need is a set of clear definitions of 
 
1) A Public Good:  one which is not used up in consumption 
2) An Externality: a third party effect in a two way transaction. 
3) A Merit Good:  one which social values dictate should be  
available even to those who cannot afford it in strict market terms. 
4) A Quasi Public Good: one which can be supplied by the market, but 
which, for some reason in efficiency, is better supplied publicly. 
5) A Market Failure:  an inefficient result in a market system 
 
All of the above are definitions rooted in the concept of efficiency.  All 
overlap one or all of the others.  I do not pretend for a moment that the 
above 
definitions are completely satisfactory.  I do think that until some such 
definitions are clearly laid out, there is not going to be a satisfactory 
discussion of how their substance has been worked into theory and policy 
over 
the past (say) two hundred and fifty years. 
 
Robin Neill 
 
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