ABSTRACT
Begin with a truism. Objectives conflict in public policy. This is so not only in the obvious sense that there are distinct partisan preferences over public policy choices, but also in the stronger sense that competing considerations will lay claim to some plausibility. Thus in devising a pensions policy it is desirable both to achieve high minimum standards and to preserve established expectations. In constructing a scheme of income support it is desirable to secure an anti-poverty objective and to avoid high marginal rates of taxation. In health policy we want both freedom of choice and equity of provision, or both comprehensiveness of care and control of costs. And in economic policy we find the familiar quartet of conflicting objectives running from full employment, through stable prices and economic growth, to balance of payments equilibrium. Such examples can be multiplied. The obvious point is that a conflict of objectives cannot be avoided.
