Some people have engaged in acts of civil disobedience to protest against the climate policies of their governments and corporations. This article argues that these disobedient actions are justified at present since governments fail to do all they reasonably can to respond to this pressing issue.

This article presents an argument for a new form of tax calculation. Firstly it is argued that Hypothetical Insurance is the best method to determine the correct type of distributive policies and the precise amounts that should be redistributed. Hourly averaging is then presented as a new candidate policy for both assisting the less economically fortunate and taxing the more economically fortunate. The article then argues that hourly averaging compares favourably against rival policies as a hypothetical insurance choice.

This paper argues that international citizens can retain their obligations to past states and societies, and that this obligation has implications for their state of residence. While some people remain in the same state for their entire lives, international individuals generate relationships with more than one state. The paper presents the argument that individuals are obligated to their state for at least one reason. One particularly relevant implication of this obligation is the duty to pay taxes. In regard to international (...) individuals, these considerations apply to states with which they had historic relationships as well as the state in which they currently reside. The paper offers a rough proposal as to how to calculate the relative relationship that an international individual has with their past and present states and societies. This can be used to determine what proportion of a person’s total lifetime tax revenue should be shared. Although the analysis here is presented in terms of the duty of the individual towards past states, the individual need not change their behaviour to discharge the duty. The duty impacts on current states, which should acknowledge the duty of their international resident, and make sure that this is discharged appropriately to the other relevant states. (shrink)

This paper presents a rival proposal to that presented by Dietsch and Rixen to ensure international background justice. It explains the notion of background justice and how this is challenged by the lack of international co-operation on taxation policy. It then presents the principles which Dietsch and Rixen propose in order to respond to this concern: the principle of membership and the principle of constraint. The paper proposes alternative principles of relationship and counter-incentive, which are argued to be superior means (...) to achieve the aim of global background justice. This is because the alternative principles do not interfere with the right of states to set the tax-rates that they desire. The counter-incentive approach instead rewards the states who set higher taxes and provides them with revenues from taxpayers who have left either to seek lower taxes elsewhere or for any of a number of other reasons. (shrink)

This paper argues that the best interpretation of Ronald Dworkin’s hypothetical insurance scheme is a holistic one that allows the parties to make choices between the policies that are available. This interpretation contrasts with the hypothecated and insurance-focused aspects that are traditionally understood as part of the procedure. The paper argues that the holistic interpretation better fits with the ideal of resource egalitarianism that people should have as much choice as possible from an equal starting point. It does so by (...) allowing people a choice over the policies that will be used to achieve their insurance preferences. (shrink)