[PhatHead]

With respect to "BusinessDictionary.com," public good is a pretty standard economic term, and that is not the definition. As you pointed out earlier, a lot of questions on this test are really not civics questions, and this one is an example.

If you are interested in reading more, you might read Tyler Cowen's Public Goods & Market Failures, which is a collection of articles on the private provision of public goods, and questioning the theory of market failure. Cowen is the General Director of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University - a market-focused think tank. For a more liberal perspective (but the same definition of the term,) you might read Public Goods: Theories and Evidence, a textbook by Raymond Batina of Washington State.

[bvw]

Definitions of terms are derived within the proper context. The context of the test is civics -- the relationship of citizens and government. In that context, BusinessDictionary.com, is the proper definition that applies here. They incorporate the use of government taxes, as part of that definition.

The good in "public good" must be in the public domain not the private, or alternatively of the public as a whole, the definition that the test says is correct fails to include that restriction.