Final answer:
It is false that public goods and services are provided through private expenditures. Public goods are often funded through taxes because of their non-excludable and non-rival nature, helping to address the free rider problem.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement "Public goods and services are provided through private expenditures by individuals or corporations" is false. Public goods, due to their non-excludable and non-rival nature, are typically not provided through private expenditure but are rather paid for by the public through taxes and often publicly provided. For example, national defense and crime prevention are services funded by the taxpayer money because they exhibit the characteristics of public goods. However, while the government may contract private firms for certain services, such as defense contracting, the primary funding for these goods and services comes from the public sector, addressing the free rider problem associated with public goods.
While some services with positive externalities, such as education, can be provided by private companies, they are not exclusively public goods since they do not always meet the criteria of being non-excludable and non-rival. In some cases, goods with positive externalities can become private goods through mechanisms like patents.