Università Roma Tre

Economic inequalities have entered the public debate. But, what to mean exactly by economic inequalities and how to measure them? Furthermore, assuming that not all inequalities are unacceptable, how to distinguish unacceptable from acceptable inequalities? And, with respect to these latter how to redress them? Finally, doesn’t redressing economic inequalities compromise efficiency and growth? The course aims at addressing these questions, focusing on the role of taxation.

The course is divided into 4 parts.

Part 1. The main dimensions of economic inequalities (with respect to the “what”, the “who”, the time-frame; the distinction between relative and absolute equality as well as the distinction between inequality and poverty……) and the main measures of economic inequalities.

Part 2. The main trends in the development of economic inequalities in the OECD countries and main drivers, with a focus on labour income and wealth.

Part 3: The main ethical justification of economic inequalities (we will concentrate on the libertarian, the meritocratic and the different “egalitarian” arguments that have been made) and on the implications for evaluating current inequalities.

Part 4. The role of taxation in curbing economic inequality. Complementarities and trade-off between efficiency and equity.

Parts 1-2: handouts available on moodle

Part 3: Nozick: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/nozick-political/ (par.2, 3, 4); Tomasi: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1744-540X.2012.00678.x; Roemer and Trannoy: https://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/jel.20151206; Granaglia: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0954349X19301523 (and handouts)

Part 4: Rosen Public Finance Chapters 14 (general remarks); 15, 18, 19, 21; Word Inequality Report, Chapters 7-8.