Actual left/right wing discussion Message Board

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Politics : Actual left/right wing discussion

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To: JBTFD who wrote (1976)	9/28/2006 5:53:45 PM
From: TimF	Read Replies (1) of 10087

The questions where more about how you value different principles. The 1st question doesn't reflect a situation that could exactly occur in real life. Any great new production of wealth is going to have some effect on the other 99% of the population. I suppose its possible that overall the different effects could cancel each other out but there is no way to know that beforehand. The question could be answered entirely as a hypothetical, if you could waive a magic wand and cause the richest 1% to have 10% more real wealth (additional real wealth, not a transfer from other people and not money without any value behind it, which would effectively be a transfer from others, it would take from others through inflation). But I suppose even that would have an impact on other people, I'm guessing a positive one (the richest invest and spend and some of that money goes to the rest of society). I guess if you don't want to answer this question its no big deal since you answered the other two. I would say that I would be very unlikely to give up economic growth to achieve greater equality. The main reason is that economic growth compounds on itself. Eventually even the poor will likely be better off. I care far more about alleviating poverty than I do about economic equality. To the extent I care about equality its mostly a concern for the well being of the non-rich. If I could (again with the wave of a "magic wand") double the real wealth of the poor, increase the wealth of the middle by three times, and the wealth of the rich by 10 times, I wouldn't hesitate to do it. None of which means I have absolutely no concern for economic equality. A high degree of economic inequality can cause social division and other problems. And I might even care about equality, to a very small extent, for its own sake, but since I think most ways of attempting to increase equality are either ineffective and/or decrease economic growth I tend to oppose them. There are however measures that are good for both economic equality and economic efficiency and growth. Examples include better education, and less subsidies and barriers to competition put in place to protect special interests.

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