Abstract
This chapter examines a foundational distinction in discussions of economic justice: the distinction between earned income and unearned income. It briefly sketches the conceptual history of the metaphor of ‘parasites’ and goes on to contrast the impersonal dependence involved in unearned income gained through rent extraction, with the very personal form of dependence characteristic of inheritance. It follows Thomas Piketty in suggesting that together these mechanisms produce great social inequality and injustice. However, the chapter also argues that we should not be normatively complacent about the idea of ‘earned income’ and assume that it represents a ‘productive’ economic contribution in contrast to unearned income. We are all far more deeply dependent than such complacency implies.
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Cockburn, P.J.L. (2018). Unearned Income and Inheritance. In: The Politics of Dependence. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78908-8_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78908-8_7
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