Presidential Address: Welfare Economics Beyond Welfarist-Consequentialism

Abstract

Capitalizing on the recent work in social choice theory, I re-examine the foundations of post-Pigovian welfare economics and social choice theory. The structure of the "old" and "new" welfare economics is critically scrutinized, and the culprits of the poverty of welfare economics as well as of Arrovian social choice theory are boiled down to their common informational basis, referred to as welfarist-consequentialism. Alternative avenues that may be taken in an attempt to escape from the poverty of normative economics are identified and examined. These are focused on interpersonal comparisons of welfare levels, opportunity preferences and the procedural fairness of social choice.

JEL Classification: B21, D63, D71