-Minimum level should high enough to ensure commonly recognized needs for dignified survival
-Does not explicitly depend on wealth, income, or consumption of others in society but it is a collective assessment
-Rawlsian criticism exists in that once reallocation is anticipated people will drastically change their behaviors and that will generally reduce the total amount of wealth that will be available.
-Vertical equity – those with greater wealth would pay higher taxes so that everyone gives up the same amount of utility
Horizontal equity – requires that those in similar circumstances be treated alike
• The more equal the distribution of any given level of wealth, the higher the ranking of that distribution by the social welfare function
• In general we should expect the total available wealth to shrink more, the greater amount of redistribution attempted.