Why Measure Inequality? A discussion of the concept of equality

Abstract

In February 2007, we shared the teaching in an upper level Microeconomics seminar at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. Sophie Elliott was one of the students. Sophie’s scholarly term paper, ‘Why measure inequality? A discussion of the concept of equality’, presented here in slightly abridged form, was easily the best essay on equity and equality either of us had ever read. Sophie completed her degree in November 2007 and was on the brink of an exciting career. And then we learned of Sophie’s death. Sophie died on January 9th 2008, just one day before she was supposed to travel to Wellington to take up her first position at the New Zealand Treasury. She was brutally attacked and stabbed to death in her own bedroom. In her paper, Sophie examined the contrasting viewpoints and analyzes of a dozen of the main thinkers both philosophers and economists who are today concerned with equity as a fundamental value in society, and indicated at many points, gently but firmly, what she herself believes. We found Sophie’s essay stunningly to-the-point, thoughtful and mature. Jean-Yves Duclos, editor of the Journal of Economic Inequality, wrote to one of us about Sophie’s paper in these terms: ‘It is a remarkable piece of research for such a young person. In just a few paragraphs, the paper is able to strike right to the core of welfare economics and to grasp with many of its complex philosophical and ethical issues. Elliott certainly had a beautiful mind’. In Sophie’s paper, the reader will find many questions to ponder. Should a policy be about the people who deserve to be treated equally rather than those who are treated equally? How should we treat benevolence in society? Do we wish to make people in society equal in terms of the things that do generate welfare, or in terms of the things that should generate welfare? Does the prosperity of one person negatively affect the fortunes of some others? What do we mean by equal opportunities, and by equal reward for equal effort? Are market-generated outcomes necessarily unfair? If so, is the lack of compensation for this unfairness morally wrong? We have both felt Sophie’s loss, in this awful calamity, very deeply indeed. We are proud to have been her teachers and we commend her inspirational essay to the readers of Oxonomics. There was something magical about Sophie Elliott everybody who knew her felt it, and everybody who knew her loved her, all but for one person. Rest in peace, Sophie.