Paternalism is an attempt to influence individuals’ decisions for their own benefit, even if there are no third parties involved. This seems to contradict normative individualism, which provides the general orientation to our modern democracies. Soft or libertarian paternalism accepts the...

This paper presents an analysis of the consequences for redistribution policies of achieving a more equal predistribution, that is, a more equal distribution of the predetermined income earning capabilities that individuals bring to the market. We show that optimal fiscal policies are less...