Suchergebnisse

This book analyzes the following four distinct, although not dissimilar, areas of social choice theory and welfare economics: nonstrategic choice, Harsanyi's aggregation theorems, distributional ethics and strategic choice. While for aggregation of individual ranking of social states, whether the persons behave strategically or non-strategically, the decision making takes place under complete certainty; in the Harsanyi framework uncertainty has a significant role in the decision making process. Another ingenious characteristic of the book is the discussion of ethical approaches to evaluation of inequality arising from unequal distributions of achievements in the different dimensions of human well-being. Given its wide coverage, combined with newly added materials, end-chapter problems and bibliographical notes, the book will be helpful material for students and researchers interested in this frontline area research. Its lucid exposition, along with non-technical and graphical illustration of the concepts, use of numerical examples, makes the book a useful text.

In this article, we put forward two arguments for greater attention from central banks to the distributional implications of monetary policies. Using the dual effect doctrine, we show that central bankers are responsible for the distributional effects of their unconventional monetary policies. Moreover, given that the traditional leverage of taxation is facing serious difficulties today, central bank support could be decisive in reducing economic inequalities. We then assess the theoretical and empirical arguments raised by central bankers against this proposal. We conclude that these objections do not undermine the attractiveness of central banks' responsibility for distribution. ; Dans cet article, nous présentons deux arguments en faveur d'une attention accrue des banques centrales à l'égard des implications distributives des politiques monétaires. En mobilisant la doctrine du double effet, nous montrons que la responsabilité des banquiers centraux quant aux effets distributifs de leurs politiques monétaires non conventionnelles est engagée. De plus, étant donné que le levier traditionnel de la fiscalité fait face à de sérieuses difficultés aujourd'hui, l'appui des banques centrales pourrait être décisif pour la réduction des inégalités économiques. Nous évaluons ensuite les arguments théoriques et empiriques soulevés par les banquiers centraux contre cette proposition. Nous concluons que ces objections ne minent pas l'attrait d'une responsabilité des banques centrales en matière de distribution.