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Title: Equality and Efficiency: The Big Tradeoff by Arthur M. Okun ISBN: 0-8157-6475-8 Publisher: The Brookings Institution Pub. Date: June, 1975 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3 (2 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Clear and thought-provoking, despite some dated examples
Comment: This short book is nearing its thirtieth birthday, and in spots it shows its age. Its many references to U.S. income levels, for example, have to be (roughly) quadrupled to reflect current patterns.
Nonetheless, this is an extremely clear introduction to one of the central political and economic issues of the past century: To what extent should government (and more broadly, society) pursue economic equality? Okun is at his best in pointing out the tradeoffs that both liberals and conservatives must face. Okun argues that with some exceptions, pursuing a great deal of equality will cost society a great deal of efficiency for four reasons: there are fewer incentives for the working rich, fewer incentives for the working poor, less capital investment by the rich, and more administrative costs. On the other hand, singlemindedly pursuing efficiency will cost society a great deal of equality, with the rich getting richer and the poor poorer. Okun clarifies why the tradeoff exists through clever uses of metaphors, most notably his famous "leaks in the (transfer) bucket." Okun ultimately chooses a relatively liberal tradeoff that favors equality, but he always acknowledges the other side's arguments because, like most economists, he respects the powerful efficiency of well-working markets.
Just as interestingly, Okun also discusses cases when we all-- liberal and conservative alike-- may agree to emphasize equality. Voting, trials, and other forms of political life, for example, are areas where we all might wish that government (and its propensity for equality, treating all of us as equal) would prevail over the market (and its propensity for inequality, giving some individuals much more influence than others). Yet often the market prevails in such political areas as well, as we see high-priced lawyers gain advantages in trials, and rich campaign contributors gain advantages in voting and lobbying. In such cases, says Okun, the necessarily unequal market has colonized an area--government-- where equality should be the norm.
One doesn't have to agree with all of Okun's conclusions to find this a thought-provoking and insightful book.
Rating: 2
Summary: It was a forced-read, so I wasn't too keen on it to start...
Comment: When I attended Reed College, my economics professor assigned this book as a "quick read." Unfortunately, the book is rather dry, and I didn't pull much out of it. If you have the time to actually re-read passages, go ahead and pick it up if the topic interests you. Otherwise, forget about it, because I had one night to read it, and the results were the same as if I didn't read it at all.
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Title: The Economics of Collective Choice by Joe B. Stevens ISBN: 0813315670 Publisher: Westview Press Pub. Date: June, 1993 List Price(USD): $44.00 |
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Title: Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups by Mancur Olson ISBN: 0674537513 Publisher: Harvard Univ Pr Pub. Date: June, 1971 List Price(USD): $20.50 |
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Title: Markets and States in Tropical Africa: The Political Basis of Agricultural Policies by Robert H. Bates ISBN: 0520052293 Publisher: University of California Press Pub. Date: May, 1984 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Policy Paradox: The Art of Political Decision Making, Revised Edition by Deborah A. Stone ISBN: 0393976254 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: July, 2001 List Price(USD): $39.05 |
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Title: Exit Voice and Loyalty: Responses to Decline in Firms, Organizations, and States by Albert O. Hirschman ISBN: 0674276604 Publisher: Harvard Univ Pr Pub. Date: September, 1972 List Price(USD): $17.50 |
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