Against equality: reading on economic & social policy
- London Macmillan Press 1983
- 400p.
This volume of readings is published in association with the Foundation for Education in Economics. It brings together in a systematic schemeimportant work produced in recent years by prominent writers in the fields of social policy, political theory and economics which challenges and rebuts egalitarian doctrines and assumptions Though arguing from different standpoints-the collection does not hew to a strict orthodoxy of dissent-the contributors powerfully illuminate key issues arising from their scrutiny of the various arguments advanced in favour of equality. The question of 'social equality- differences of status, class, esteem, and the like- receives less emphasis than other aspects of equality. None the less the contributors bring ample evidence to bear to show that the claims of egalitarianism in the social sphere are as ill-founded as in any other. William Letwin is Professor of Political Science at the London School of Economics. His publications include The Origins of Scientific Economics (1963; reprinted 1975), Sir Josiah Child: Merchant Economist (1959), A Documentary History of American Economic Policy since 1789 (new edn 1972), and Lawand Economic Policy in America (reprinted 1981).