On the re-allocation of goods and intergenerational equity

Abstract

In the paper we consider selected problems belonging to the field of the theory of distributive justice. The first part of the article is constructed as an essay: it contains a short review of problems connected with the category of justice. The fundamental conflict between equity and efficiency has been noted. A few historical remarks and general questions (such as the role and position of contemporary economic theory among social sciences) have also been included. In the second part we present a mathematical approach to the problem of equalizing of economic inequalities in the case of finite number of subjects. It turns out, that the key role in solving this task play doubly stochastic matrices (it is the generalization of classic transfers of Dalton-Pigou). In the third part of the paper we introduce the general (simplified) model of the multigenerational economy. Some mathematical results are referred in order to show formal difficulties with coupling postulates of efficiency and intergenerational equity.