Ethical foundations of the left

[Justin Schwartz]

Posner is less naive and ideologically blinded than you suggest. In addition 
to being really really smart, he was raised by Commies, and is a sort of 
inverted Marxist. He has made fun of me for egalitarianism (called me a 
"jejune egalitarian," if you must know). He sees nothing wrong with great 
inequality. He is less indifferent to the plight of the poor than Epstein, 
but he thinks that people should be allowed to take advantage of their luck 
(or stuck with the consequences of their lack of it) in the market economy. 
He does think that a more or less unfettered market has the best 
consequences, but he is notoriously vague about his criterion for that. He 
used to believe--this was the basis for my saying what I did--that wealth 
maximization without regard to distribution was the social good. He defended 
this absurd proposition in a series of papers in the 1970s. In my book, that 
is enough to warrant my saying that he regards what is in the interests of 
the bosses to be good. He has retreated from this expression of the 
position. But I still think he retains the underlying "intuition." And Brad, 
I'll put my knowledge of his theoretical and legal writing up agin yours 
anyday. I'd let him be the judge (ha ha). --jks


>Right, but would that be because he actually believed it or because of 
>other
>motives?  Even if he does believe that market arrangements serve the
>interests of all to the fullest, as many right-wing ideologues appear to,
>isn't it plausible to suggest that that belief is rooted more in the 
>wishful
>thinking prompted by self-interest than anything else?
>
>-- Luke
>
> > That Posner does not acknowledge the division between "bosses" and
> > "the rest of us." If you asked him whether he really does think that
> > it is an "advantage" that these arrangements rebound to the benefit
> > of the bosses, he would say "no."
> >
> >
> > Brad DeLong
>

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