More than 40 years ago, Samuel Brittan and I joined within a week or two of each other the editorial staff of the Financial Times. He soon became (and remains) the leading British commentator on the passing economic scene, and the issues which lie behind it, contributing more to our understanding than at least 90 per cent of academic economists and acquiring in the process a unique international reputation. But his interests have always extended far beyond the purely economic, as these essays, addresses and papers from the past couple of years bear out.
His critique of so-called communitarianism, a fancy name for a form of collectivism which has become fashionable on both sides of the Atlantic, is brief and wholly convincing. His analysis of the nature and consequences of globalisation is also excellent. I am less convinced by his essay on what he calls “Redistributive Market Liberalism.” He is seeking some principle by which the state should intervene to smooth out the inequalities that inevitably emerge in a liberal market economy, of which he is a robust defender. His philosopher’s stone is John Rawls’s concept of a “veil of ignorance”: we are to imagine what sort of redistributive arrangements we would like to see in place if we were unaware of our own income, wealth, abilities or any other relevant particular.
To my mind the Rawlsian principle is valueless and the question it addresses pernicious. As Brittan himself points out, the system which Rawls derives from answering his own question is unlikely to be the answer that most people would give. More fundamentally, there is no determinate answer at all. It is, I suppose, possible that enough people might be persuaded to engage in the Rawlsian thought experiment to produce an interesting opinion survey, but even then there is unlikely to be unanimity-and as Brittan argues elsewhere, the virtue of democracy is that it provides a peaceful means of removing an unpopular government: it does not mean that we should construct a system based on the views of the majority of the moment.
If you are a subscriber, please log in »
This article is available to subscribers only
Subscribing to Prospect is the most reliable and convenient way to receive the magazine every month, and offers the best value.Subscription Types:
Online
An online subscription offers you complete and unlimited access to the entire website, including our searchable archive of every back issue of Prospect, and a PDF edition of each new issue: all this for just £20 per year. Purchase an online subscription »Renewal
Renew an existing subscription »Institutional access
If you are a library, business organisation or any other large institution that needs a multi-user licence, you can obtain institutional access.
Share
Subscribe to post comments
Print
