Claude Gamel

Why Should We Debate the Theory of Macrojustice

In this introductory chapter, we give a subjective account of the content of Kolm’s book Macrojustice (2005) that gave rise to the idea of organising in 2006 a round table where this book was discussed by different authors coming from a large variety of horizons: philosophers, economists, econometricians. We leave Serge-Christophe Kolm the task of presenting his theory in the first part of this book. Macrojustice is concerned about social justice proposing a comprehensive redistributive scheme. Of course, any distributive proposal always raises questions at the ethical, theoretical and practical levels. These questions are at the core of the discussions that are presented in this book, which is designed as a forum for multidisciplinary exchange.

Basic Income and ELIE Transfers: Argument for Compatibility Despite Divergence

Van Parijs (1995) with basic income and Kolm (2005) with ELIE transfers have both revisited the ethical foundations and the redistributive patterns of the tax system. Despite being formally close, both propositions diverge because the financing of basic income is not really guaranteed and the treatment by ELIE transfers of “eccentric productive people” who choose not to work is not obvious. Both projects remain nevertheless compatible: from a philosophical point of view, Van Parijs tries to equalise individuals’ “external endowments”, while Kolm exploits only their “internal endowments”; from an economic point of view, TECIE transfers which would be based on “external endowments” could thus complete ELIE transfers stemming from “internal endowments”. The first examination of this “hybridisation” provides the framework of our conclusion.