Alternative Views on Social Welfare

Abstract

The philosophy which underpins the social welfare function outlined in Section 2 of this survey is essentially that of the Pareto principle, with its concern for the welfare of all individuals in society rather than with some organic concept of the state, and with its emphasis that each individual in society must be considered to be the best judge of his own welfare. So extensive is the acceptance of this philosophy in economics that few economists would feel the necessity even of referring to these value judgements, which must be accepted before the public policy implications of Paretian analysis can have any relevance to the real world. This reticence is to be deplored, not least because the Paretian value judgements may well be less widely accepted outside than they appear to be within the economics profession. The implications of three alternative approaches to the antitrust debate are briefly outlined in this section.