‘Liberty vs. Equality’ is an eternal issue which has been debated for centuries and still cannot reach an ending. The issue has been discussed in various focuses including ‘economics’. How is ‘liberty vs. equality’ concept talked about in economics? For instance, if you believe that ‘progressive tax’ is a good idea and the right thing to do, then you are probably an egalitarian person; if you do not, then of course you are one of the ‘libertarians’. Another example is ‘inheritance tax’, which refers to a tax paid by a person who inherits money from another person who has died. The idea of this tax is to reduce the undeserved initial advantage of the one who got the inheritance. Again, if you think it is a great idea, then you tend to be an egalitarian. So, basically, egalitarianism is a belief that all human deserve equal primary worth or social status. On the other hand, Libertarianism is a belief that all human deserve liberty, freedom and least role of government intervention; all actions should be based on voluntary basis.
In the case of France: Liberty or Equality? Now, let’s discuss about France. It is commonly known that French’s perspective is swayed towards Egalitarianism which is compatible with their model of ‘acquis sociaux’ or ‘social achievements’ emphasizing mainly on social justices. Amount of taxes collected is relatively higher than the other countries’ but that, instead, compensates into a very strong ‘welfare state’ which is really a pride for the French people. So, generally speaking, one can presume that France is probably an equality-based country.
Importance of liberty in economic development We need to admit that liberty plays a very important role in economic development basically because liberty is completely linked to ‘capitalism’. Without the idea of liberty, capitalism would not exist in the first place. And without capitalism, economy cannot run efficiently. Hence, two
References: * http://www.ehow.com/info_8392060_principles-liberty-equality.html * http://www.spunk.org/texts/intro/faq/sp001547/secB4.html * http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/socFrance.htm * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism