distributive justice lecture 1 · distribution of economic, or scarce, goods. usually taken to be...

Distributive Justice Lecture 1

Distributive JusticeLecture 1

Hilde Bojerwww.folk.uio.no/hbojer

[email protected]

January 17, 2013


2Are you OK for textbooks?My office hours are by appointment only. Please mail me forappointments.May I bring my dog to the lectures?


Distributive justice???

3Concerns the just orrightdistribution of economic, or scarce, goods.Usually taken to be the just distribution ofincome and wealthI shall return to a discussion of these concepts


Scarce goods?4a goodsomeone somewhere wants (more of) itscarceMore of the good means less of another goodfor the individual or for society as a wholeExamples:TimeClean water in many parts of the worldThe opposite of a scarce good is a free good:Fresh water and clean air used to be standard examplesof free goodsNo question of just distribution if there is abundance —But is there not an abundance of material goods in Norway?Abundance in this strict sense means no scarcity:everything you want is a free good


Economic goods

5Economic goods : tradeable ortransferablein some way.Examples of economic goodsGoods that you shop for in the ordinary way: food, clothes, books,computersYou know they are scarce because —-But there are also economic goods that you shop for in somecountriesbut not in others:health serviceseducationNot distributed by way of incomein welfare states


6Technology has an impact on which goods are economic in thissense:Kidney transplantsFresh waterBabies


Two kinds of economic goods

7Individual goods:more to one person means less to anotherExample: foodPublic goods: my consumption does not diminish yoursExamples?Military defence is the favourite exampleStreet lights


Public goods

8(Collective goods better term?)The environmentClimateAre they economic goods?Certainly scarce:If you want to improve the environment, consumption of othergoods may have to be reduced.Climate?Can not redistribute income to ”buy” better climate locally.But we can try to compute benefits and costs for reducing, say,carbon emissionsSo, economic goods in a sense even though not immediatelytransferable


9There are three channels for distributing economic goods:

I Income and wealth (individual goods)

I Direct transfers or rationing (health care)

I Government expenditure (or lack of expenditure) on publicgoods


10Goods that are not economic? not scarce?


Two kinds of distributional justice

11Global justiceLocal justiceDistinction introduced by the Norwegian philosopher Jon Elsterexample: transplantsadmission to schools


Income distribution: Some examples

12Lionel Messi (Barcelona): Makes 75.000 Euros a daywhile 50 per cent of Spanish youth are unemployedand athletes in less popular sports earn nothingNozick’s reasoning: so what?Bankers’ bonuses


The wage gap

13Women’s average hourly earnings in Norway are about 80 per centof men’sDiscrimination or free choice ?Argument: women choose their working time and their professionsThe outcome of free choice cannot be unfair.Different preferences?Different possibility sets?


14Is discrimination wrong?Why?In Norway, the trade unions negotiated different wage scales formen and womenuntil about 1958.What was the justification?


Examples cont

15Progressive tax on incomeshould the rich pay higher taxes?Obama vs the RepublicansTax on inheritanceTax on wealth (formuesskatt)Rate of interest — usurychild benefitThe tax payer’s money?


Moral and political philosophy?

16(Discussed by Kymlicka)Moral philosophy: Ethics.What is right and wrong for the individualPolitical philosophy:Concerns the moral foundations of the state (government)Democracy?What should decide the boundaries between the rights of theindividual and the rights of the state?Should there be freedom of religion?Rights of minorities? self government?


17These are NORMATIVE issuesand cannot be resolved by empirical investigations of how thingsareCan they be analysed in a scientific way?


18Some people mean no.Dominant view from about 1900 to 1970John Rawls : A Theory of Justice 1971started the contemporary academic debate about distributivejusticeThe debate has developed in many different directionsIn this course:The main schools of thoughtNo agreement


Method of analysis?

19ConsistencyCorrespondence with our intuitionsRawls: reflective equilibrium (cf W K)example: the wage gap againPrecision of termsexample: equality


Basic principles common to all?

20In modern times:All persons are morally equal.Everyone, man, woman, child, has a right to have their interestsrespected andreflected in public policyIs this a universal principle in our days?This course will build on that assumption


Equality of what?

21Agreement on moral equality does not imply agreement oneconomic equalityEconomic equality can be defined in a variety of ways:

I Equal wages

I Equal annual incomes

I Equal lifetime incomes

I Equal standards of living

Are some examples that we shall discuss in more detail


Some conflicts

221. Liberty versus distributional concerns2. Equality versus efficiency3. Distribution according to merit or according to need?


23The lectures will follow my own textbook, more or lessPlease read the others in parallel:Kymlicka is another textbook, describing and commenting on thevarious theories.The book of readings gives texts written by the philosophersthemselves.When reading, please note:1. Do Bojer and Kymlicka give consistent descriptions of thevarious theories?If not: which are the differences? Are they substantial?2. Does Bojer give a fair summary of the various theories?3. Does Kymlicka?


Seminars

24There will be two parallel seminars,both on Tuesdaysstarting 5 February10-12and 14-.16


25The first two seminars, 5 February, is aimed at non-economistsneeding tuition in concepts like utility and marginal utilityand training in drawing graphsPlan for the seminars will be posted next week.

distributive justice lecture 1 · distribution of economic, or scarce, goods. usually taken to be...

Documents