ABSTRACT
I have been guilty, in the past, of arguing that equity should not be named as a criterion for long-term sustainability, since very inequitable governments – the Roman empire, for instance – have managed to last for a long time. It is also commonplace for economists to exclude the problem of social equity by saying ‘economics is concerned only with efficiency’, leaving everything else in the domain of politics and government. Yet even some economists don’t agree that the two objectives are completely independent. Keynesians advocated stimulating consumer demand as a legitimate policy to overcome recessions, on the grounds that providing more income for poor and unemployed people creates jobs. Many conservatives take the contrary view that too much government – including government intervention through social programs to compensate for inequity – interferes with efficiency.
