The Economic Way of Thinking 13th Edition by David Prychitko, Peter Boettke, Paul Heyne

Exercise 10

Adam Smith assigned to the sovereign or commonwealth the duty of erecting and maintaining those public institutions and those public works, which, though they may be in the highest degree advantageous to a great society, are, however, of such a nature, that the profit could never repay the expense to any individual or small number of individuals, and which it therefore cannot be expected that any individual or small number of individuals should erect or maintain ( The Wealth of Nations , Book V, Chapter I).
(a) How does this description of the goods that government should supply differ from the text's description of goods subject to the free-rider problem?
(b) Smith discusses four public institutions or works that at least partially satisfy his criterion: those "for the defense of the society.., for the administration of justice.., for facilitating the commerce of the society, and those for promoting the instruction of the people." How does Smith's assignment compare with the duties generally assigned to governments today? Is there any major duty of government that Smith overlooks?