Distributive Justice and Taxation

245 Pages·2020·3.112 MB·English

by  Jørgen Pedersen

Distributive Justice and Taxation
Providing a thorough examination of distributive justice, Distributive Justice
and Taxation presents and discusses different theories of what constitutes a just
society, and how goods should be distributed in such a society.
The distribution of goods in society has direct and serious consequences
on the lives of the people. There are therefore important questions to be
asked regarding the justice of that distribution: Is it just that some people
inherit large fortunes while others inherit nothing? Do rich people have
additional access to political power because of their wealth? If so, is that just?
And should the ambition for economic policies be to combat poverty, or to
reduce inequality? This book explores these questions and a number of oth-
ers through the analysis of related theories, spanning from strong egalitarian
theories on the left to right-wing libertarianism. The chapters also explicitly
examine the case of taxation – one of the most important and controversial
measures of distribution of goods in society. Placing emphasis on the case of
Norway and using data from both the UK and USA as a point of comparison,
the work details and explores the key features of the tax system. It concludes
by presenting and evaluating arguments for and against taxes such as income
tax, wealth tax, and inheritance tax.
This book is essential reading for those interested in distributive justice,
as well as students and scholars of philosophy, law, political science, and
economics.
Jørgen Pedersen is Professor of Practical Philosophy at the Department of
Business Administration, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences,
Norway.
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Distributive Justice and Taxation
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Distributive Justice
and Taxation
Jørgen Pedersen
First published 2021
by Routledge
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and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2021 Jørgen Pedersen
The right of Jørgen Pedersen to be identified as author of this work
has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
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ISBN: 978-0-367-32124-6 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-31675-3 (ebk)
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Contents
List of illustrations vii
Preface ix
Introduction: inequality, justice, and redistribution 1
PART 1
Theories of justice 15
1 Justice as fairness: John Rawls 17
2 Libertarianism: Robert Nozick 37
3 Equality of resources: Ronald Dworkin 55
4 Equality and community: G.A. Cohen 71
5 The capability approach: Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum 88
PART 2
Controversies 105
6 What is the value of equality? 107
7 Equality—a distributive ideal or an ideal of social relations? 123
PART 3
Intervention: just taxation 141
8 Foundational philosophical issues 143
9 The Norwegian tax system 157
vi Contents
10 Inheritance tax 174
11 Taxation of wealth 191
Conclusion 208
References 213
Index 229
Illustrations
Figures
9.1 Norway’s income from taxes 165
9.2 Corporate taxes in OECD countries 166
9.3 Income from different taxes on capital stocks as a share of
total tax and toll income in a selection of countries. Percent
numbers from 2011 169
Tables
1.1 Four hypothetical economic structures 22
3.1 Four hypothetical structures 2 65

Preface
When I started writing this book, I wanted to present and discuss the most
important theories of distributive justice. I had a deep admiration for the
literature on distributive justice, and I thought it was important to convey
these theories because they can make people better equipped to take a stand
on some of the most pressing issues of our time. I still hold that view today,
but as I continued to work on the book, it became clear to me that despite the
fact that taxation is a key question of distributive justice, it is normally not
given the position it deserves. Thus, I decided to write a book on distributive
justice and taxation.
My hope is that the book can be used by the readers to clarify what a
just society is and what role taxation should play in such a society. When I
say “clarify”, I don’t necessarily mean that the reader should let themselves
be convinced that my understanding of distributive justice and taxation is
the correct one (even though that would be nice). The hope is also that the
perspectives and arguments brought forward here can contribute to better
justified judgement and opinions on some of the important issues that the
book addresses.
This book is a translation of the original Norwegian book Rettferdig forde-
ling og rettferdig skatt, published in 2019. Since the publication of the Norwe-
gian version, I have added substantially, and tried to improve the text. The
major changes have come in Part 3, and Chapter 11 on the wealth tax is new
compared to the original. The book’s aim is to connect theories of justice to
taxation. In order to do so, I employ distribution and taxation in the Nor-
wegian context as an illustration. However, I also supply data on distribution
and taxation from other contexts, particularly that of the UK and the US.
I believe that this combination of a normative and a comparative approach
can allow a better conversation on issues of inequality, justice, redistribution,
and taxation.
Many people have helped me writing this book. First, I would like to
thank Sveinung Sundfør Sivertsen who translated the book from the Norwe-
gian original. Sveinung helped me clarify many statements and came up with
a number of good suggestions. I hope I have been able to take some of them
on board. I am also extremely grateful to Steinar Bøyum and Robert Huseby