Distributive Justice and the Second Law

Abstract

In our opinion, the economic inequality which is found in the OECD countries and the salaries of the top executives in the Fortune 100 companies are merely an equilibrium statistical outcome derived from the second law of thermodynamics. This power-law distribution (Pareto law, Zipf Law, and Benford Law) is similar to that of the energy distribution among photons in a blackbody. This distribution yields correctly: the Gini index, the ratio between rich and poor, the relative poverty, the part of the property held by the upper percentiles. In addition, the same distribution is found in the salaries of CEO of the Fortune 100 companies as a function of the number of employees and average salary. Therefore it is concluded that in free economies the wealth is distributed randomly according to the blackbody statistical mechanics.