Minimizing inequality in a market economy: implications for Eastern Europe in transition
Abstract
ArticlesMinimizing inequality in a market economy: implications for Eastern Europe in transition SAGE Publications, Inc.1994DOI: 10.1177/002087289403700204 Charles R. Atherton The central question which this article addresses is: 'How can Eastern European nations minimize inequality as they move in the direction of a market economy?'. The answer that most countries with market economies have devised is: 'Through the creation of a welfare state.' It is important to emphasize the idea of minimizing inequality rather than eliminating it; no economic or political system has totally eliminated inequality, and none is likely to do so. The most one can hope for is that inequality will be contained sufficiently to prevent the society from becoming a nation of gross extremes. Morality aside, a modern nation with great inequalities simply will not work very well: social solidarity and civil order are constantly threatened because there is not enough at stake for enough people. Two points must be made at the beginning. First, I do not use the term 'free market', as there is not and never has been such a thing. While many academic economists use the term, they all know that laissez faire is an abstraction and that government has an important