Accueil » Numéros » 2012/2 (Vol. 13) – Varia » The Difference Principle, Rising Inequality, and Supply-Side Economics: How Rawls Got Hijacked by the Right

The Difference Principle, Rising Inequality, and Supply-Side Economics: How Rawls Got Hijacked by the Right

Mark R. Reiff

Résumé

Selon Rawls, le principe de différence est un principe de justice à la fois libéral et égalitaire. On veut dire par là que Rawls entend donner une justification morale à une distribution modérée des revenus par les individus plus fortunés en faveur des individus les plus désavantagés. Cependant, depuis la parution de Une Théorie de la Justice, les inégalités économiques ont augmenté de manière dramatique, atteignant des niveaux jamais vus depuis la Grande Dépression – niveaux que Rawls aurait certainement trouvés pervers. Pour beaucoup cette augmentation est due à l’émergence de l’économie de l’offre et à la baisse spectaculaire des taux d’imposition sur les firmes et sur les revenus des plus aisés. A mes yeux, pourtant, le principe de différence, ou en tout cas la culture qu’il reflète, est en partie responsable de cet état de choses. Mon but, dans cet article, est de mettre en lumière le lien entre le principe de différence, l’économie de l’offre et l’augmentation des inégalités, d’expliquer en quoi le principe de différence est erroné, et d’établir ce que les libéraux fidèles aux idéaux égalitaires qui sous-tendent ce principe sont en mesure d’accomplir.

Plan

  • The difference principle and economic inequality
  • The difference principle and supply-side economics
  • Where the difference principle went wrong
    • The Effect of the Basic Liberties and Fair Equality of Opportunity Principles
    • What Counts as an Argument against Ideal Theory?
    • Can the Difference Principle and the Supply-Side Approach be Distinguished?
    • Why Pointing to Differing Empirical Assumptions is Not Enough: The Argument from Intuition
    • Why Pointing to Differing Empirical Assumptions is Not Enough: The Argument from Indeterminacy
  • Rendering the difference principle determinate
    • Expected Utility
    • Prospect Theory
    • Expected Value
    • Minimax Regret
    • Winner-Take-All
    • Trial and Error
  • Why the difference principle is fatally indeterminate
  • But are not all principles of justice equally indeterminate?

Article

[L’article peut être lu en intégralité sur Cairn]

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Mots-clés

Indétermination, Prioritarisme, Redistribution des revenus, Incertitude, Economie du Trickle-Down