Choosing a single number necessarily removes information about the distribution, though, and which information is being discarded is inherently a political deci

Choosing a single number necessarily removes information about the distribution, though, and which information is being discarded is inherently a political decision. The Rawlsian veil of ignorance (at least a naive version) would have us choose p0 as the meaningful number; a utilitarian with certain beliefs about the marginal utility of money would prefer the distribution mean. Even the choice to use a normalize GDP per capita is taking a strong stance on the repugnant conclusion.