Lehrman American Studies Center

Questions for Rights and Dollars and The Case for the Market:

1. "There are some things that money can't buy." Do you agree with Okun's list of things that money shouldn't buy? What would you take off that list (that is, what are some things that Okun declares to be off-limits but which you think should be bought and sold)? What would you add to the list of areas that are off-limits to the market?
2. Reproduce, in a couple paragraphs, Okun's argument for why capitalism might not be ethical, but it is more efficient than the alternative.

Questions for Equality of Income and Opportunity and Increasing Equality in an Efficient Economy:

1. Is inequality of opportunity something that we (as a society) should try to remedy? Should the government be involved in ameliorating inequality of opportunity? Should this be the job of other organizations/institutions (i.e., private charity, churches)?
2. Some policies for redressing opportunity-inequality that are particularly inefficient (they waste much more than they help); others are rather efficient (the cost of administering the program and the cost of the changed incentives are relatively small compared to the improvement in welfare). Give one example of each, trying to explain how they are working today (not in Okun's time).