Free Goods in Economics

Steps:

• Recall that a free good is a resource so abundant it requires no production cost or sacrifice.
• Identify key characteristic: zero opportunity cost, meaning no alternative use is forgone.
• Evaluate choices against this definition: A matches directly; others describe different concepts.
• Confirm A as the precise economic definition.

Why A is correct:

• In economics, a free good is defined as one with zero opportunity cost, as its abundance means using it doesn't require giving up other resources (e.g., air or sunlight).

Why the others are wrong:

• B describes a public good, like national defense, which may have costs despite being non-excludable and non-rivalrous.
• C refers to government-provided services, but these often involve taxpayer-funded costs, not true free goods.
• D involves subsidies reducing price but not eliminating opportunity cost, as resources are still allocated.

Final answer: A