Résumé
Rawls' proposal of a metric of well-being based on the basket of primary goods drew heated criticism from economists when A Theory of Justice was first published. So there is a certain irony in seeing the questions Rawls raised about the metric of well-being re-emerge in the debate over the construction of an indicator of social well-being. The above article revisits the original misunderstanding between Rawls and the economists about the maximin and shows how the Rawlsian conception of an index of primary goods puts in perspective the current debate about the limitations of using gross domestic product as an indicator of social well-being. Adapted from the source document.