At a time when processes of globalization are encompassing increasingly more cultural and natural resources, the ways in which global public goods are created, designed, and managed have far-reaching implications. Issues of globalization, today, are precisely those that are beyond the policy endeavors of states, reflecting a mismatch between the scope of the problem and the authority of decision-making bodies attempting to address such issues. Many goods that might be "public by default" would be best designated at the policy level as common goods (global-level common-pool resources or global commons), with appropriate regulation, until such time as levels of knowledge, foresight and governing structures might become available to designate such resources as either private or public goods.