Why do you sometimes assume that re-distribution is possible along the lines a, e, d, and sometimes that it is possible along the lines b, c? It seems to me that the entire non-transitivity is explained by the fact that you changed the rules of re-distribution in the middle of the argument.
All of the curves represent states of the economy such that a re-distribution of resources will correspond to a movement along that curve. A change in state of the economy can be explained by a change in technological knowledge, a change in climate, the discovery of a deposit of a particular resource, stuff like that. “Re-allocation of resources” can correspond to re-allocation of quite a complex bundle of goods. The projections of the points on the co-ordinate axes merely represent the utilities of each of the two citizens, where only the order relations between utilities matters.
Oh yes, and when the economy is in a given state you are only allowed to move along one curve. The curves are allowed to intersect, but you can’t change which curve you are moving along when doing re-distribution. The explanation I just added of why the curves are allowed to intersect may help.
Why do you sometimes assume that re-distribution is possible along the lines a, e, d, and sometimes that it is possible along the lines b, c? It seems to me that the entire non-transitivity is explained by the fact that you changed the rules of re-distribution in the middle of the argument.
All of the curves represent states of the economy such that a re-distribution of resources will correspond to a movement along that curve. A change in state of the economy can be explained by a change in technological knowledge, a change in climate, the discovery of a deposit of a particular resource, stuff like that. “Re-allocation of resources” can correspond to re-allocation of quite a complex bundle of goods. The projections of the points on the co-ordinate axes merely represent the utilities of each of the two citizens, where only the order relations between utilities matters.
Oh yes, and when the economy is in a given state you are only allowed to move along one curve. The curves are allowed to intersect, but you can’t change which curve you are moving along when doing re-distribution. The explanation I just added of why the curves are allowed to intersect may help.