Government & Taxes
📋 What it is
Governments collect taxes to pay for public goods — roads, schools, parks — that everyone shares and no one buys alone.
🗣️ Coach says
Some things are too big for one person to buy — roads, clean water, schools. So governments collect taxes and pool the money to provide these "public goods" everyone shares. Taxes are the shared pot that pays for the shared stuff.
🧠 Memory hook
Taxes = the shared pot → public goods (roads, schools) everyone uses.
😂 Giggle
What did the surplus say to the shortage?
"I've got plenty to go around — you should try it sometime!"
😲 Whoa!
Public roads, streetlights and parks are "non-excludable" — once they exist, no one can be stopped from using them, so we all chip in.
✅ Quick check: Why do governments pay for roads and schools with taxes instead of leaving it to shops?
Say your answer out loud first — then reveal.
These are public goods everyone shares and no one would fully pay for alone; pooling taxes provides them for the whole community.
Public goods + taxes explain what governments do in an economy.
🧪 Try it! (2 minutes)
Name 3 public goods you used today that taxes helped pay for.