In university we studied the public good. This was how lighthouses got built. We would take individual demand curves, horizontally sum them and then see where they intersected the cost curve. At this price, so many lighthouses would get built by society. It was a way round the free rider problem and ensuring that the lighthouse got built. Apparently public park benches also fell under this category.
Imagine my surprise when I ripped open an unexpected letter from Bell today and found that they were enlarging my local calling area. Hurrah! Except that it was to areas, I don't call so I don't pay long distance anyway. A public good that doesn't help me. This didn't bother me until I learned that for this added good, I was now to pay fifty cents a month for the next 36 months - THREE years. It suddenly struck me that public goods were not good. I am subsidizing the calls of someone else. I am not benefiting. I would like to opt out.
My economics tells me that if I could opt out, then everyone would opt out and it would never happen. All I know is that my demand curve is so low that someone else's must be really high to make it intersect the cost curve at all. My gut feeling is that there is no cost associated. They're earning rents and stealing my consumer surplus.
I want my consumer surplus back. I'm pretty sure it counts as theft of an intangible.
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