Liberty Fund Books

Description

The role of the democratic state in the redistribution of wealth is the topic of this readable and lively examination of an often controversial issue. Using public choice and rent-seeking analysis as a basis, Tullock discusses the role of the democratic state in the redistribution of wealth. He adds a refreshing dose of realism to a field of economics that is often dominated by idealistic visions.

Charles K. Rowley is Duncan Black Professor of Economics at George Mason University and a Senior Fellow of the James M. Buchanan Center for Political Economy at George Mason University. He is also General Director of the Locke Institute.

The entire series includes:

Volume 1: Virginia Political Economy
Volume 2: The Calculus of Consent
Volume 3: The Organization of Inquiry (November 2004)
Volume 4: The Economics of Politics (February 2005)
Volume 5: The Rent-Seeking Society (March 2005)
Volume 6: Bureaucracy (June 2005)
Volume 7: The Economics and Politics of Wealth Redistribution (July 2005)
Volume 8: The Social Dilemma: Of Autocracy, Revolution, Coup d'Etat, and War (December 2005)
Volume 9: Law and Economics (December 2005)
Volume 10: Economics without Frontiers (January 2006)

Reviews

The seventh volume of the acclaimed “Selected Works of Gordon Tullock” series from Liberty Fund, The Economics And Politics Of Wealth Redistribution begins with an examination of the primary arguments advanced in favor of wealth redistribution. Gordon Tullock (currently a professor of law and economics, and a Distinguished Research Fellow in the Center for Study of Public Choice at George Mason University) then goes on to explore the real-world mechanisms and politics of redistribution in democratic countries, finding that redistribution primarily benefits the middle class and the politically savvy, while neglecting the deserving poor. This seventh volume drawn from the lifetime writings and lectures of one of America’s most respected economists, concludes by proposing radical reforms to the modern welfare state.

—John Burroughs, Midwest Book Review Burroughs’ Bookshelf, December 2005

Table of Contents

Introduction, by Charles K. Rowley ix

1. WHY REDISTRIBUTE WEATLH?
Income Redistribution 3
Helping the Poor 11
Reasons for Redistribution [1983] 23
Reasons for Redistribution [1986] 42
Objectives of Income Redistribution 71

2. PRIVATE AND SEMIPRIVATE REDISTRIBUTION
MECHANISMS
Charitable Gifts 89
Local Redistribution 117
Aid in Kind 133
Demand Revealing, Transfers, and Rent Seeking 142
Epilogue—The Grating People 149

3. REDISTRIBUTIVE POLITICS
The Machiavellians and the Well-Intentioned 155
Helping the Poor vs. Helping the Well-Organized 171
Horizontal Transfers 179
Information and Logrolling 198
The Mixed Case 217
General Welfare or Welfare for the Poor Only 245

4. THE EXPANDING FRONTIERS OF WEALTH REDISTRIBUTION
Old Age Pensions 263
Risk, Charity, and Miscellaneous Aspects of Social Security 278
Education and Medicine 294
Administrative Transfers 319
Giving Life 339

5. WHAT TO DO—WHAT TO DO 355

Index 369