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You can make a reasonable utilitarian argument for some kind of redistribution, progressive tax, welfare, etc., based on poorer people having greater marginal u
by pjscott 5y ago
You can make a reasonable utilitarian argument for some kind of redistribution, progressive tax, welfare, etc., based on poorer people having greater marginal utility of money. The book's reply, in the "Robin Hood Sells Out" section (starting on page 15), is -- and I'm making way too short a summary here -- that in practice the system we have doesn't really do this overall. Governments help poor people and hurt poor people, and the author argues that (at least in 1970's USA) the poor are overall more hurt than helped.
- eru 5y agoWell, if you include poor people everywhere, governments are massively hurting them via immigration restrictions. With no gain to balance.
- cma 5y agoI don't think social security has worked out to be regressive the way he proposes in the robinhood section. The real returns chart here shows it is progressive between low middle and high earners considering four different scenarios: https://www.crfb.org/blogs/fact-or-fiction-social-security-regressive https://www.crfb.org/blogs/fact-or-fiction-social-security-r...
- jokethrowaway 5y agoPoor generally have better technology available compared to the past (thanks to capitalist-driven technological advancements), so they may have more comfortable lives than in the past. Given the massive increase in inequality (which is often driven by government policies, see quantitative easing, covid lockdowns) it does seem like our current system is favouring the ultrarich.