This view is basic to traditional welfare economics. Sugden points to three principal value
judgments (1980, p.166).
! Each person is on the face of it the best judge of his or her own welfare.
! Social welfare depends on the welfare of individuals; there is no such thing as
the welfare of a society, through for example its culture or collective
existence, which is not directly attributable to the welfare of individuals.
! If one person's welfare increases, and no-one else's decreases, there has
been an increase in social welfare. (This last point is contentious, because it
could mean that increased inequality is acceptable if it does not make others
worse off. The issues are discussed further in chapters 8 and 9.)