Course content
“What is the origin of inequality among people, and is it authorized by natural law?” - Essay prompt by the Academy of Dijon, 1754
What is inequality? How can we measure it? Is it morally justified?
Economists from Karl Marx to Simon Kuznets and Thomas Piketty as well as philosophers from Jean-Jacques Rousseau to John Rawls and Robert Nozick have all in various ways studied the mechanisms and legitimacy of inequality. Why are some incredibly wealthy while many are so poor? Can the current distribution of economic resources and political power be justified? As economic inequality is rising in most of the developed world, inequality has yet again resurfaced as one of the most important and contested topics of academic and political debate.
The aim of this course is to introduce the concept of inequality, i.e., what is inequality and why does it matter? Students will be introduced to the economic theories of inequality and its philosophical background. In the course we cover various definitions of inequality and discuss different methods of measuring inequality. We will look at both global and national/regional inequality, and discuss inequality along various dimensions, such as class, race, and gender. Finally, we address the ethical and political aspect of inequality: Can inequality be justified? The course also covers potential policies to address inequality, including a discussion of whether such interventions should actually take place.
See course description in course catalogue