In this episode of EconPop, New York City comedian Andrew Heaton explains the economics of the popular 1984 sci-fi film RoboCop.
Using the movie as a launching point, Heaton explains how private companies can provide public goods. A public good, he says, is something that is jointly consumed, or collectively used by a large group of people at once. For example, national security isn’t used one person at a time: everyone in the country benefits from the military protecting us.