Is the US Economy “Fair Enough”?

After decades of increasing inequality and stagnating wages among working and middle-class Americans, many pundits thought that the financial crisis and the wave election of 2008 would usher in a new era of politics in the US. And they were right, only not the way they expected. The passage of the Affordable Care and Inflation Reduction acts notwithstanding, the last eighteen years have generally not yielded a more robust social safety net, higher taxes on the wealthy, or massive public investments in infrastructure or renewable energy. Instead, many working and middle-class voters have moved to the right, resulting most recently in sharp cuts to bedrock social programs that provide healthcare and food assistance to the poor—and equally sharp cuts in taxes, particularly for those at the top of the income and wealth pyramid. So, why have US politicians been unable to build sustained support for policies of redistribution in the face of skyrocketing inequality? *Fair Enough*, a new book by the University of Toulouse social scientist Charlotte Cavaille, PhD '14, points to an underexamined cause: the complicated ways people think about fairness. In addition to traditional notions of self-interest, Cavaille says, voters weigh proportionality and reciprocity in deciding whether redistributive policies are fair. As a result, middle- and working-class Americans’ concerns about "free riders" may inspire opposition to policies that would benefit them materially.