Tools for Tragedy: Procedures for Assessing Historic Redress Claims

Abstract

Programs providing monetary redress for historical injustices are often

heralded as praiseworthy acts of national accountability. However, critics

tend to judge their implementation harshly. Those unfavorable judgments

respond, at least in part, to trade-offs between important values that are

“hard-wired” into the basic tools of assessment. Exposing those tradeoffs

can help observers understand the compromises inherent in program

design and, hopefully, support policy makers in creating more rational

programs.