While very good, this needs an analysis not just of envy but of spite as well. I have often wanted someone to provide the definitive analysis of how to think about interdependent utility functions–an analysis that Miles, in fact, took a first crack at in his dissertation…
Mile Kimball: John Stuart Mill on the Rich and the Elite: “I hate bashing of the honest rich. Of course, the dishonest or unworthy rich are a very different matter…. Whatever arguments one may have for taxing the rich, it is not OK to verbally attack the honest rich. If we fail to give honor to those who became rich by helping to provide goods and services that we value, then we will have to let them keep more money in order to provide appropriate incentives. On the other hand, the more we honor and tend to the souls of the rich, the more we can tax them and still have adequate incentives…. Envy raises complex philosophical issues for utilitarian social welfare maximization, related to issues about respect for the boundaries between people…. Interfering with conspicuous consumption out of one’s envy… has the potential to interfere with the efficient provision of incentives… [and] also often leads to attempts to limit conspicuous excellence…”
