“The Predistribution Solution: How to Tackle Inequality at its Roots,” Steven K. Vogel, UC Berkeley

AMERICAN POLITICAL ECONOMY EXCHANGE (APEX) EVENT

Please join us for a luncheon talk with guest speaker Steven Vogel (University of California, Berkeley) as he presents his case for predistributive policies being more just, more effective economically, and more feasible politically than redistributive remedies in addressing the problems of economic inequality.

Abstract: Should the government compensate people for the inequalities that result from a market economy? Or should it restructure markets to generate less inequality in the first place? Addressing economic inequality requires both: redistributive and predistributive remedies. Nevertheless, this paper presents the case for giving priority to predistribution because this would be more just, more effective economically, and more feasible politically. 1) Predistribution is more fundamental because it seeks to address the causes of inequality whereas redistribution focuses more on the symptoms. 2) Predistribution is more just because it does not accept value extraction and then compensate for it, but rather strives to give workers fair wages and consumers fair value in the first place. 3) Predistribution strives to create more just and more efficient institutions rather than taking away from some and giving to others. 4) Predistribution is more respectful of human dignity because it favors fair wages and fair value over government aid. 5) Predistribution enhances democracy by balancing power in the economy. 6) Predistribution is more market-conforming because it seeks to make markets work better rather than to override them. 7) Predistribution is more feasible politically.

PLEASE RSVP AT THIS LINK TO RESERVE LUNCH

To request an advance paper, or to schedule a 1-on-1 meeting with Professor Vogel, please contact Patrick Sullivan via email.)

Steven K. Vogel is Director of the Political Economy Program, the Il Han New Professor of Asian Studies, and a Professor of Political Science and Political Economy at the University of California, Berkeley. He specializes in the political economy of the advanced industrial nations, especially Japan. He is the author of Marketcraft: How Governments Make Markets Work (2018), Japan Remodeled: How Government and Industry Are Reforming Japanese Capitalism (2006), and Freer Markets, More Rules: Regulatory Reform in Advanced Industrial Countries  (1996), and co-editor of The Political Economy Reader: Contending Perspectives and Contemporary Debates (2022).

Sponsored by the American Political Economy eXchange (APEX) program at ISPS.