Why We Don't Have to Choose between Social Justice and Economic Growth: The myth of the equity/efficiency trade-off

(by Andrew Jackson, 2000, approx. 50 pp., #591, $10.00)

This 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.

The author 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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