Given the assignment to define the role of government, one would quickly find oneself confounded. Defining what government should do is very difficult, if not impossible, particularly in specific terms. Since it is so difficult to define what governments should do, perhaps the best approach is to search for activities that governments obviously should not do. Private goods are produced and distributed by the private sector. Private goods are acquired by an individual consumer for his individual private consumption.
Examples are shoes, radios, oranges, and automobiles.
They are divisible. Private goods can be produced in units sufficiently small for individual households to purchase. The satisfaction, benefits, and costs are limited to the individual purchaser. Those who are not willing or are not able to pay the market price for private goods are excluded from the benefits and enjoyment such goods confer. This exclusion is called the exclusionary principle.