resources that are non-excludable (cannot prevent access) and non-rival (one person's use does not diminish another's)
examples: national defense, street lighting, open-source software, scientific knowledge
free rider problem: rational actors consume without contributing, leading to underprovision
market failure: private markets systematically underproduce public goods because providers cannot capture full value
solutions: taxation, voluntary contribution mechanisms, quadratic funding, staking incentives
cyber as public good: the knowledge graph is non-excludable and non-rival, anyone can query or extend it
cyberlink creation contributes to a shared intelligence layer accessible to all agents