Inheritance of Wealth: Justice, Equality, and the Right to Bequeath(New Topics in Applied Philosophy)

Daniel Halliday examines the moral grounding of the right to bequeath or transfer wealth. He engages with contemporary concerns about wealth inequality, class hierarchy, and taxation, while also drawing on the history of the egalitarian, utilitarian, and liberal traditions in political philosophy. He presents an egalitarian case for restricting inherited wealth, arguing that unrestricted inheritance is unjust to the extent that it enables and enhances the intergenerational replication of inequality. Here, inequality is understood in a group-based sense: the unjust effects of inheritance are principally in its tendency to concentrate certain opportunities into certain groups. This results in what Halliday describes as 'economic segregation'. He defends a specific proposal about how to tax inherited wealth: roughly, inheritance should be taxed more heavily when it comes from old money. He rebuts some sceptical arguments against inheritance taxes, and makes suggestions about how tax schemes should be designed.

Table of Contents:
1: Introduction 2: Inheritance in Early Liberal Writings 3: The Utilitarian Case against Iterated Bequests 4: Inheritance and Luck 5: Inequality and Economic Segregation 6: Inheritance and the Intergenerational Replication of Inequality 7: Libertarianisms 8: Taxation

About the Author :
Daniel Halliday teaches political philosophy at Melbourne University. He works mainly on topics relating to justice and political economy. He holds a PhD in philosophy from Stanford University.

Review :
The argument is developed clearly ... Daniel Halliday's book would be a fine source for the principles by which to judge the effectiveness of the current system ... Daniel Halliday has made a cogent argument for a more concerted effort to reduce social segregation and its malign effects. I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in contemporary issues concerning distributive justice. Densely packed and succinctly written book which is analytical political philosophy at its best: clear, rigorous, and admirably sharp... anyone remotely interested in egalitarianism will find much to reward them in this outstanding book. The Inheritance of Wealth marries a discussion of the principles involved with a sketch of what he sees as some of the key empirical features of contemporary inequalitymaking readers ponder a difficult subject. I recommend Halliday's book in large part for its ability to raise good questions. [An] elegantly written book ... this is a ground-breaking work ... anyone interested in issues of social justice needs to engage with this thoughtful and easily accessible text. Although indeed perhaps precisely because inheritance taxation seems to be on the retreat everywhere, analysis of the implications of inheritance for social justice has never been more urgent. Halliday's thorough, thoughtful and provocative book is therefore hugely valuable and especially timely. Inheritance of Wealth offers fresh insights into the moral problem posed by inheritance. Halliday's analysis draws on traditional sources to challenge contemporary inequalities and usefully links economic segregation to the inheritance of wealth.