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November 28, 2000
Why We Don't Have to Choose between Social Justice and Economic Growth: The myth of the equity-efficiency trade-off
The Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD) today released a paper entitled Why We Don't Have to Choose between Social Justice and Economic Growth. In this paper, Andrew Jackson, Director of Research at the CCSD, refutes the argument that there is a fundamental trade-off between equity and efficiency for nations with market economies. The paper is available in full on the CCSD's website.
The paper critiques, on both empirical and theoretical grounds, the mainstream economic theory that there is a necessary trade-off between the reasonably equal distribution of income and wealth (equity) and economic growth (efficiency). This theory is often used to support the argument that any advanced industrialized country hoping to emulate the recent economic success of the United States must buy into the high levels of inequality evident in the U.S. social model.
Mr. Jackson counters the widespread belief that societies that care too much about promoting equality will pay a price in terms of slower growth. He does so by highlighting the positive linkages between relative equality and good economic performance in various countries in recent years.
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Why We Don't Have to Choose - Related Material
Canadian Council on Social Development,
190 O'Connor Street, Suite 100,
Ottawa, Ontario, K2P 2R3
Tel: (613) 236-8977, Fax: (613) 236-2750, Web: www.ccsd.ca, Email: council@ccsd.ca
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