econ 4270 distributive justice lecture 4: rawls and
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ECON 4270 Distributive Justice Lecture 4: Rawls and liberal equality
ECON 4270 Distributive JusticeLecture 4: Rawls and liberal equality
Hilde Bojerwww.folk.uio.no/hbojer
February 16, 2011
ECON 4270 Distributive Justice Lecture 4: Rawls and liberal equality
Economics and welfarism
Rawls: liberal equality
Rawls: a Kantian
The basic structure of society
The social contract
Primary goods
The difference principle
ECON 4270 Distributive Justice Lecture 4: Rawls and liberal equality
Economics and welfarism
Economics and welfarism
3Normative economics:Optimal allocation (use) of resourcesCost benefit analysis
Takes the framework of laws and ethical norms as givenBased on the Pareto principleIdentical preferences (The representative consumer)Distributional analysis: more of a problem
ECON 4270 Distributive Justice Lecture 4: Rawls and liberal equality
Economics and welfarism
Economics and welfarism
3Normative economics:Optimal allocation (use) of resourcesCost benefit analysisTakes the framework of laws and ethical norms as givenBased on the Pareto principleIdentical preferences (The representative consumer)
Distributional analysis: more of a problem
ECON 4270 Distributive Justice Lecture 4: Rawls and liberal equality
Economics and welfarism
Economics and welfarism
3Normative economics:Optimal allocation (use) of resourcesCost benefit analysisTakes the framework of laws and ethical norms as givenBased on the Pareto principleIdentical preferences (The representative consumer)Distributional analysis: more of a problem
ECON 4270 Distributive Justice Lecture 4: Rawls and liberal equality
Economics and welfarism
4Utility theory: a convenient and powerful tool in both descriptiveand normative theory.
ECON 4270 Distributive Justice Lecture 4: Rawls and liberal equality
Rawls: liberal equality
John Rawls and liberal equality
5John Rawls: A Theory of Justice (1971)Changed the whole academic discourse about distributive justiceIs frequently misrepresented, particularly in economic textbooks,So-called Rawlsian welfare function’ describes him as a welfarist
ECON 4270 Distributive Justice Lecture 4: Rawls and liberal equality
Rawls: liberal equality
6Rawls was the first in recent time to give a serious critique ofutilitarianismHe did not know about welfarism in economic normative theoryTwo criticisms:1. Utilitarianism postulates individual welfare as a universal good.Does not allow for different conceptions of the good2. Does not conform to the Kantian imperative that one personshould never be considered as means to the ends of another personWill become clearer later, I hope.
ECON 4270 Distributive Justice Lecture 4: Rawls and liberal equality
Rawls: liberal equality
Rawls’s liberalism
7A liberal society is a society which allows different,conflictingeven not commensurabledefinitions of the good
ECON 4270 Distributive Justice Lecture 4: Rawls and liberal equality
Rawls: a Kantian
Rawls: a Kantian
8Two important Kantian tenets:(categorical imperatives)
I You shall act so that your actions accord with a general ruleyou can accept
I No person should be treated as a means to the ends of otherpersons.
Kantian ethics is deontological (absolute rules) and concernpersonal ethicsRawls’s project: to apply Kantian ethics to the organisation ofsociety
ECON 4270 Distributive Justice Lecture 4: Rawls and liberal equality
The basic structure of society
The basic structure of society
9Rawls theory of justice concernsthe basic structure of societynot day to day decisions about distribution and allocation ofresources.Which are the basic structures of society?
ECON 4270 Distributive Justice Lecture 4: Rawls and liberal equality
The basic structure of society
The basic structure of society
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I Citizenship and rights
I Ownership of property and natural resources
I Size and role of public sector
I Size and role of the market
I The family
ECON 4270 Distributive Justice Lecture 4: Rawls and liberal equality
The basic structure of society
An important premiss
11The existence of an organised societywith laws and securityand division of labourcreates an economic ‘surplus’to the advantage of everybodyand in particular: to the advantage of the most well to-do.Who have the most to losethe least advantaged have the least to lose
ECON 4270 Distributive Justice Lecture 4: Rawls and liberal equality
The social contract
The social contract
12A sort of constitution for constitutionsdescribing the fundamental rules of societyShould, according to Rawls, be unanimousand voluntary
ECON 4270 Distributive Justice Lecture 4: Rawls and liberal equality
The social contract
The original position
13Is a thought experiment,a device for thinking about the social contractThe persons in the OP are to chooseunanimouslythe social contract of a society they themselves would choose tolive in.They are to choose in enlightened self-interest
ECON 4270 Distributive Justice Lecture 4: Rawls and liberal equality
The social contract
The veil of ignorance
14The persons do not know their position in societyThey do not know what kind of persons the are (gender, talents,race etc)They do not know their preferencesor their conception of the good
ECON 4270 Distributive Justice Lecture 4: Rawls and liberal equality
The social contract
The veil of ignorance
15THICK VEIL OF IGNORANCE(Harsanyi assumes preferences are known)Why?Rawls contends that our preferences are, at least to some extent,formed by the society we live in.
ECON 4270 Distributive Justice Lecture 4: Rawls and liberal equality
The social contract
Two basic principles
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1. Complete liberty for everyone to the extent that this libertydoes not hinder the liberty of others
2. Economic equality except when inequality is to the advantageof all
The second principle is also called the difference principle(See textbook for exact quotes)
ECON 4270 Distributive Justice Lecture 4: Rawls and liberal equality
The social contract
Principle of liberty
17Follows from the fact that the parties in the OP do not know theirpreferences,or their conception of the good.Cf the definition of a liberal society above.Is the usual liberal formulationImplies the usual civic liberties: democracy, right to vote,
ECON 4270 Distributive Justice Lecture 4: Rawls and liberal equality
The social contract
Primary goods
18By economic equality Rawls means equality ofprimary goodsgoods that everyone needs, whatever their preferences,to further their project in life, their conception of the good.
ECON 4270 Distributive Justice Lecture 4: Rawls and liberal equality
The social contract
Primary goods
19Two important primary goods are1. Income and wealth2. The social bases of self-respect2 should always be equally distributed
ECON 4270 Distributive Justice Lecture 4: Rawls and liberal equality
The difference principle
Some implications of the difference principle
20For simplicity: advantage for allbecomes advantage to the least advantaged group
ECON 4270 Distributive Justice Lecture 4: Rawls and liberal equality
The difference principle
21Figure 5.1
ECON 4270 Distributive Justice Lecture 4: Rawls and liberal equality
The difference principle
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Figure 5.2
ECON 4270 Distributive Justice Lecture 4: Rawls and liberal equality
The difference principle
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Figure 5.3