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Laissez-faire versus Pareto

Bosmans,Kristof
; 
Öztürk,Emel
Abstract
Consider two principles for social evaluation. The first, “laissez-faire”, says that mean-preserving redistribution away from laissez-faire incomes should be regarded as a social worsening. This principle captures a key aspect of libertarian political philosophy. The second, weak Pareto, states that an increase in the disposable income of each individual should be regarded as a social improvement. We show that the combination of the two principles implies that total disposable income ought to be maximized. Strikingly, the relationship between disposable incomes and laissez-faire incomes must therefore be ignored, leaving little room for libertarian values.
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2022-05
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Tilburg University Research Output Collection
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Bosmans, K & Öztürk, E 2022, 'Laissez-faire versus Pareto', Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 58, no. 4, pp. 741-751. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00355-021-01373-4
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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14602/76014
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