> You can declare these good public goods and then publicly own and fund them. That's the theory (or one theory among many), but it doesn't always work that ea

> You can declare these good public goods and then publicly own and fund them. That's the theory (or one theory among many), but it doesn't always work that easily in practice. If you own any for-profit business, you have obligations beyond making money. If you own a nursing home, you have obligations to the residents, their families, the community, etc. > You cannot tell a private owner of a privately-owned nursing home that they should keep losing money year over year. Nobody tells them that. First, the choice isn't follow the (stereotyped) PE route or lose money. Second, your job as a business owner is to make money no matter what the conditions. If as a business owner you accept excuses from yourself (or others) about circumstances, you won't last a month - there are always reasons it can't be done. Your job is to balance and solve all those problems, and make money.