This paper extends Paul Samuelson’s familiar illustration and dichotomy between private and public good to the so-called positional good, namely a good for which the consumption is a zero-sum game (Pagano 1999; Hopkins and Kornienko 2004). For instance, one person’s gain in status can occur only at the expense of an equal loss in status for other(s). In particular, following the textbook characterization in consumption of a good, a positional good is here defined as a double rival and double excludable good. Finally, the paper investigates ‘normative’ remedies for positional competition, and argues that, because legal relations are characterized, in turn, by positional characteristics, such legal remedies produce social costs and do not represent ‘free lunches’.