Egalitarian Perspectives
Essays in Philosophical Economics

This book presents fifteen essays, written over the past dozen years, on egalitarianism.

John E. Roemer (Author)

9780521574457, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 28 September 1996

372 pages
22.8 x 15.3 x 2 cm, 0.57 kg

'The essays John Roemer brings together in this collection are of the very highest caliber. This is work of great originality, intelligence, and scholarly competence that effortlessly straddles the boundaries between economics and philosophy.' Daniel Hausman, University of Wisconsin

This book presents fifteen essays, written over the past dozen years, on egalitarianism. The essays explore contemporary philosophical debates on this subject, using the tools of modern economic theory, general equilibrium theory, game theory, and the theory of mechanism design. Egalitarian Perspectives is divided into four parts: the theory of exploitation; equality of resources; bargaining theory and distributive justice; and market socialism and public ownership. The first part presents Roemer's influential reconceptualisation of the Marxian theory of exploitation as a theory of distributive justice. The second part offers a critique of Ronald Dworkin's equality-of-resources theory, and puts forward a new egalitarian proposal based upon a specific method of measuring individual responsibility. The third part introduces a novel application of the theory of mechanism design to the study of political philosophy, and raises new concerns about the limitations of that application. The fourth part presents the author's views on market socialism and public ownership, and demonstrates that Professor Roemer is at the forefront of refining new theories and conceptions of market socialism.

Introduction
Part I. Exploitation: 1. Exploitation, alternatives, and socialism
2. Property relations vs. surplus value in Marxian exploitation
3. Should Marxists be interested in exploitation?
4. What is exploitation? Reply to Jeffrey Reiman
5. Second thoughts on property relations and exploitation
Part II. Equality of Resources: 6. Equality of talent
7. Egalitarianism, responsibility, and information
8. A pragmatic theory of responsibility for the egalitarian planner
Part III. Bargaining Theory and Justice: 9. The mismarriage of bargaining theory and distributive justice
10. A challenge to Neo-Lockeanism
11. Informational complexity in axiomatic models: benefits and costs
12. Distributing health: the allocation of resources by an international agency
Part IV. Public Ownership and Socialism: 13. On public ownership
14. The morality and efficiency of market socialism
15. A future for socialism.

Subject Areas: Economic theory & philosophy [KCA]