The best discussion of the feasibility of private financing of public goods can be found in Anthony de Jasay’s 1989 book. Social Contract, Free Ride: Research on Public Goods Issues (Clarendon Press). Bonuses and demerits aside, arguments against Buchananian social contractism will also be found. De Jassay’s book is a technical one, not necessarily easy to read, and not without its flaws. I will summarize the arguments, Recent Regulation Articles (see pages 60-62)In simple terms, we allow individuals who don’t want to risk being deprived of public goods to contribute to those funds, and allow free riders to enjoy a free ride. (After all, aren’t we “inclusive”? Equal freedom for all!)
Ann economist The article presented an example of partial private financing in one of the most difficult cases of public goods: territorial defense. The article concerns the development of a shoebox-sized listening station that detects the sounds of attacking objects, analyzes them with a smartphone or microcomputer, and transmits the results to Ukrainian air defense operators (see “New Ukrainian technology thwarts Russian air raids, economistJuly 27, 2024):
Telecommunications company Kievstar is installing Zvook kits in its cell towers, and providing all maintenance and data transmission free of charge.
A Ukrainian secret group called SkyFortress is developing a much larger acoustic detection network, consisting of thousands of listening stations, with thousands more planned. The original listening stations used Android smartphones to capture and process audio, but now, like Zvook, they use dedicated microphones and microcomputers. The data is sent to Ukraine’s Virazh command and control system. Like ePPO and Zvook, SkyFortress is funded primarily by donations, and is a remarkable advancement for the air defense forces.
Few outside experts know how SkyFortress works, except for Riki Ellison, founder of the Missile Defense Advancement Alliance, a nonprofit in Alexandria, Virginia. SkyFortress has become so widespread and “very good,” Mr. Ellison says, that it can now detect most low-flying Russian munitions over Ukraine. The Russian military has begun muting and changing the acoustic signatures of its drones, but the detection algorithms quickly adapt. “That’s the power of AI,” Mr. Ellison says.
The clincher is the last sentence of the second paragraph quoted above: “Like ePPO and Zvook, Sky Fortress is primarily funded by donations and is a remarkable development for air defense” – even though the qualifying word “primarily” suggests that public funds are also involved. economistThe article does not say whether the volunteer donors are Ukrainians or their supporters elsewhere in the world, but knowing this would shed more light on the general possibilities for private financing of public goods.
Ukraine is not one of those countries that might be called a free society, but it is certainly free (or less free) than, say, Russia, and it is free enough to show how independent innovation and private action can make a difference.
Note that what is a public good for one person is not necessarily a public good for another, as it was for the invading army in this case. This observation further supports the general idea that in normal social life, individuals should be free to procure what they want if they deem it valuable to them (whatever their motivations). Note also that even the freest societies will need defenses against international tyrants and thugs, as I have argued in a recent post (“A story for libertarians from the fourth millennium().
I don’t claim that these ideas will necessarily solve all of politics’ problems, but they can’t be ignored.
Ukraine air raids detected using acoustics, artistic freedom and AI glitches abound
