Title: Planet Money: Public Goods and Government Spending
Course: Indiana Economics Sample Syllabus > Section: Unit 4: Role of Government

What should the government spend its money on? With a growing national debt, this has become an important question. Economists see the government’s role in providing goods and services to be one that fills a need. The government should pay for things that make our lives better but that the private market cannot or will not provide. Listen to this story from Planet Money to learn the reasons why government has decided to pay for public goods such as lighthouses and autopsies.