Question

Q8 From a consequentialist perspective, is the introduction of payments to support households and income during the COVID-19 crisis (described above) ethically justified?

Q9 Using a deontological ethical framework, construct an argument either in favour of the payments to support households and income during the COVID-19 crisis (described above) or against them.

Q10 Evaluate the introduction of the payments to support households and income during the COVID-19 crisis (described above) from the perspective of substantive and procedural judgements of fairness.

Answer 1

8                                  Consequentialism is a perspective analysis which states that the consequences of one’s conduct forms the ultimate basis for judgement of the rightness or wrongness of that conduct. Before the analysis, let us discuss the effects of the Covid-19 crisis on the household and the changes it would make to the household on the introduction of payments to them

· With the introduction of complete lockdown across many nations on the globe, the household income of majority of the middle-income households have been seriously affected.

· Most of the private jobs have not been reinstated even now and majority of them have not been able to give salary and other disbursements till date.

· Many individual businesses have not been able to function for the past 2-3 months which has not only affected the individual, but also has affected the salaried middle-income group of employees who have been dependent on the business for their income.

Thus, we can see that Covid-19 has had serious influence on the income of majority of the households across the globe. The following are the effects of introduction of payments and supporting of households from the consequentialist perspective

· Since majority are not able to meet the basic needs due to salary crisis, the introduction of payment and support mechanisms would help them to meet these basic needs which would help in retaining the potential wok force of the economy

· If the support mechanisms are not maintained, it would result in the loss of many business individuals which could affect the economy in a very bad manner.

· Support activities are necessary so that the confidence of the potential consumer in the economy is maintained.

                                            Thus, from a consequentialist perspective, it would be ethically and economically advisable for the betterment of the economy to support its potential population during such a crisis. It would result in boosting the confidence in the mechanism is maintained and the potential consumers are also encouraged which would lead to a better economic performance after the crisis gets over.