Should Differences in Income and Wealth Matter?: Volume 19, Part 1

These essays assess the empirical and theoretical questions raised by inequalities of income and wealth.

Ellen Frankel Paul (Edited by), Fred D. Miller, Jr (Edited by), Jeffrey Paul (Edited by)

9780521005357, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 28 January 2002

384 pages
22.8 x 15.4 x 2.1 cm, 0.509 kg

'This book is a good initiation for theologians, or any others who want to engage in serious economic debate.' The Heythrop Journal

Is there a moral obligation to reduce differences in income and wealth? There is an egalitarian tradition that condemns these differences, particularly as they arise in free-market capitalist society, as unfair or unjust. The opponents of this view argue that the material disparities of capitalist society have been brought about by voluntary mechanisms and thus accord with the freely exercised liberties of its citizens. They conclude that capitalist inequality is not vulnerable to the ethical complaints of its critics. They maintain that the standard of living achieved as a by-product of the marketplace and its inequalities could not be adequately reproduced under egalitarian institutions. The essays in this volume, written by prominent economists, philosophers, and academic lawyers, assess the empirical and theoretical questions raised by inequalities of income and wealth.

1. Egalitarianism and welfare state redistribution Daniel Shapiro
2. Does the welfare state help the poor? Tyler Cowen
3. The stagnating fortunes of the middle class Edward N. Wolff
4. Inequality, incentives, and opportunity Donald R. Deere and Finis Welch
5. Misunderstanding distribution Young Back Choi
6. Can anyone beat the flat tax? Richard A. Epstein
7. Why justice requires transfers to offset income and wealth inequalities Richard J. Arneson
8. The importance of being sufficiently equal James K. Galbraith
9. Does inequality matter - for its own sake? Alan Ryan
10. Equal respect and equal shares David Schmidtz
11. Too much inequality Richard W. Miller
12. Equality, benevolence, and responsiveness to agent-relative value Eric Mack
13. How equality matters Hillel Steiner.

Subject Areas: Social & political philosophy [HPS]