#261: Economists On Federal Funding For NPR

Should NPR receive federal funding? On today's Planet Money, we try to look at the question through the cold, hard lens of economics.

We go back to an idea we covered in a podcast last year: public goods.

Here's how an expert defined a public good on that show:

"...something that we all need that will make our lives better, but the market will not and cannot provide..."

Sounds simple enough so far. But as we wade into the details, things start to get murky.