A central contested issue in contemporary economics and political philosophy is whether governments should redistribute wealth. In this book, a philosopher and an economist debate this question. James Otteson argues that respect for individual persons requires that the government should usually not alter the results of free exchanges, and so redistribution is usually wrong. Steven McMullen argues that governments should substantially redistribute wealth in order to ensure that all have a minimal opportunity to participate in economic life. Over the course of the exchange, the authors investigate a number of important questions. Is redistribution properly a question of justice, and what is the appropriate standard? Has the welfare state been effective at fighting poverty? Can we expect government intervention in the economy to be helpful or counterproductive? Are our obligations to help the poor best met through government action, or through private philanthropy and individual charity?
The book features clear statements of each argument, responses to counterarguments, in-text definitions, a glossary of key terms, and section summaries. Scholars and students alike will find it easy to follow the debate and learn the key concepts from philosophy, politics, and economics necessary to understand each position.
Key Features:
- Offers clear arguments written to be accessible to readers and students without a deep background in economics, philosophy, or political theory.
- Fosters a deep exchange of ideas with responses from each author to the main arguments.
- Provides in-text definitions and a glossary with definitions of key terms.
- Includes section summaries that give an overview of the main arguments and a comprehensive bibliography for further reading.
Author(s): Steven McMullen, James R. Otteson
Series: Little Debates about Big Questions
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 297
City: New York
Cover
Half Title
Series Page
Tiltle Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Foreword
Opening Statements
1. Redistribution to Expand Economic Opportunity
1 Introduction
2 What Does Justice Require of An Economic Order?
2.1 The Method in Which Wealth Is Obtained Matters
2.2 The Well-Beingof People Matters
2.3 Economic Opportunity
2.4 Opportunity to Participate: A Minimal Framework for Economic Justice
3 Poverty, Inequality, and Opportunity in the United States
3.1 Poverty Limits Opportunity
3.2 Inequality Limits Opportunity
3.3 Historic Racial Injustice
4 Redistribution for Economic Opportunity
4.1 Expand Nutrition Assistance
4.2 Expand Health Insurance Coverage
4.3 Universal Preschool
4.4 Opportunity Accounts
5 Economic Objections to Redistribution
5.1 The Cost of Redistribution
5.2 Behavioral Effects of Taxation
5.3 Behavioral Effects of Redistribution Programs
6 Conclusion
2. Justifying Wealth Redistribution: Can the High Burden Be Met?
1 Introduction
1.1 How to Begin
1.2 The High Justificatory Burden of Coercion
1.3 Equal Moral Agency
2 Benefiting the Poor
2.1 Relative Poverty
2.2 Wealth and Medicine
3 Punishing Wrongdoing
4 Fairness, Equality, and Equity
4.1 Defining and Applying Fairness
5 Social Insurance
5.1 Moral Hazard
5.2 The Tragic but Instructive Case of Madoff
5.3 Getting the Price Right
6 A Better Way
7 Conclusion
First Round of Replies
3. Poverty, Moral Hazard, and the State: Reply to James R. Otteson
1 Three Opening Observations
1.1 Global Poverty, Economic Freedom, and Market Exchange
1.2 The Possibility of Welfare Capitalism
1.3 A World Without Redistribution?
2 Pragmatic Objections to Redistribution
2.1 Poverty Is Real, and It Does Not Seem To Be Going Away
2.2 Redistribution Works to Alleviate Poverty
2.3 Thinking Broadly about Moral Hazard
2.4 Waste in Government and Charities
3 The Just Society and the Failure of Markets
3.1 Choices, Preferences, and Needs
3.2 How Do We Respect People?
3.3 Beneficence and the Poor
4 Conclusion
4. Difficulties with the Wealth Redistribution Argument: Reply to Steven McMullen
1 Introduction
2 The Logic of McMullen’s Basic Argument
2.1 Public Choice and the “Knave Principle”
2.2 What Remains
3 Economics and Justice
3.1 The Distributive Referee
4 Limitations on Economic Opportunity
4.1 Good Is Not Good Enough
4.2 Economic Burdens on the Young
5 The Seen and the Unseen in Redistribution
6 Conclusion
Second Round of Replies
5. Distributive Justice, Economic Growth, and the Welfare State: Reply to Otteson’s Reply
1 Introduction
2 Argument and Justification
3 What Are We Aiming for?
4 Does Redistribution Work?
5 Production, Debt, and Unseen Costs
6 Conclusion
6. How to Care for the Poor and How Not to: Reply to McMullen’s Reply
1 Introduction
2 Debating Controversial Issues
2.1 Reality Proves Possibility
2.2 A New Great Society
3 Perfection and Appropriate Standards
3.1 A Third Option
4 Some Further Evidence
4.1 Improvement Is Improvement
4.2 Ends and Moral Means
5 Good Is (Still)Not Good Enough
5.1 The Redistributionist’s Strongest Argument
6 Conclusion: True Charity
Further Readings
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
