Re: General Welfare

[Dan Bell <dbell@kent.edu>]

What would economists say about defining General Welfare
in the following way:

If GDP grows on a macrolevel from 1000 to 2000,
four things can happen.

1. Everyone has the same piece of the 1000 they had before.
   The new 1000 accrues to a concentrated group.
   No one is worse off economically.
   A small percentage are much better off.
   Wealth is more concentrated than before.

2. Everyone has the same piece of the 1000 they had before.
   The new 1000 accrues to a broad segment of the population,
    such that many people have a bigger piece than they had
    before.
   No one is worse off economically.
   A large percentage are better off.
   Wealth is less concentrated than before.

3. Some have a smaller piece of the 1000 than they had before.
   Part of the original 1000 as well as all of the new 1000
    accrues to a concentrated group.
   Some are worse off economically.
   A small percentage are much better off.
   Wealth is more concentrated than before.
 
4. Some have a smaller piece of the 1000 than they had before.
   Part of the original 1000 as well as all of the new 1000
    accrues to a broad segment of the population, such that
    many people have a bigger piece than they had before.
   Some are worse off economically.
   A large percentage are better off.
   Wealth is less concentrated than before.

I think that #2 clearly benefits the General Welfare
because no one is worse off and many are better off.

#1 is less clear, but some might say it benefits the
General Welfare because no one is worse off and many
are better off.

#3 and #4 may be said not to benefit the General
Welfare because some are worse off. Here we get into
the moral "should" issues, like, are the some who
are worse off those who "should not have been" as
well off as they were before? Are they still better
off than the average person?

Dan Bell
--
Dan Bell
International Program Coordinator
Ohio Employee Ownership Center
Kent State University
Kent, OH 44242
(330) 672-3028
(330) 672-4063 fax
dbell@kent.edu
http://www.kent.edu/oeoc/