Talk:Welfare economics

Unnecessary introductory matter

It would be much better to go straight into the content of welfare economics and omit this introductory matter, which in any case is liable to confuse the reader. Welfare economics does not, in fact, have anything to say about equity, and it can better be presented as a purely technical examination of the means of pursuing the generally accepted economic objective of increasing welfare. Whether it is logical to refer to that as "normative" is a matter of word-play rather than of substance, and as such, better avoided. Nick Gardner 04:15, 12 November 2007 (CST)

Thanks for your comment on this. I think the equity/efficiency dichotomy is relatively well represented in most introductory economics textbooks. If welfare economics is defined as the economic objective of increasing welfare, and welfare=utility, it seems equity would be a necessary concern of welfare economics for reasons which I describe in the current version - namely, the diminishing marginal utility of wealth. I'd be interested in reading another treatment of the issue if there's one you'd recommend. If anyone else has a view on the issue, please share. Stephen Saletta 11:46, 12 November 2007 (CST)