Provide a utilitarian justification for using the tax system to ...

[Kikoku]

Provide a utilitarian justification for using the tax system to provide a more equal distribution of income as well as two possible counterarguments to this viewpoint.
 
  What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

Consider the following two situations. (i) You purchase a 10 movie ticket in advance over the Internet, but when arriving at the theater, you realize that you lost the ticket. The only way to see the movie is to purchase a new ticket.
 
  (ii) On the way to seeing a movie, you drop a 10 bill. You still can afford the movie, but you have lost the 10. How should you, a rational person, respond to the two situations? A) You should still see the movie in both situations.
  B) You should respond the same way to each situation, whether it is to see the movie or not.
  C) In the first situation, you should skip the movie; in the second, you should still see the movie.
  D) In each situation, you should not see the movie.

[batool]

Answer to Question 1

A utilitarian justification for a more equal distribution of income is embodied in the notion of a social welfare function. Implicitly this notion weighs the well-being of some individuals against others, with the idea that redistribution can increase social welfare by shifting income from individuals where the income will have a lesser impact on the social welfare function to those individuals where it will have a higher impact. One counterargument to this viewpoint is that those being forced to give up income through taxation are being unfairly coerced. The second counterargument is that inequality is frequently the result of higher productivity and thus is justified, regardless of the whether or not social welfare is maximized.

Answer to Question 2

B