You Are the Mayor of a Town with 20,000 Residents

Multiple Choice

You are the mayor of a town with 20,000 residents.The head of your economic development agency recently conducted a survey in which the 20,000 residents said that a small public library in the center of town would be worth $40 to each of them.Because the cost to build the library is only $500,000,you arrange to have the library built.Everyone in town enjoys the library,but when you asked for donations to pay for the library,you only collected $100,000.You are convinced that

A) the survey must have overstated how much the library was worth to each resident; otherwise, you would have collected $500,000 in donations.
B) the cost of the library exceeded the social benefits.
C) the library was an example of the Tragedy of the Commons.
D) most residents of the town are probably free-riders at the library.