Olson's book is exceptional, and is an exemplar of how analytic philosophy, done well, can yield important insights about matters of public policy, as well as more abstract issues of political principle. The monograph makes a major contribution not only to the literature on compensation for labor, but to the literature on distributive justice more generally. The book will be a 'must-read' for all professional philosophers working on distributive justice, and will
also be of significant interest to those working in related fields like normative economics.
Kristi A. Olson is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Bowdoin College, where she works on issues of distributive justice. She received her Ph.D. from Harvard University under the supervision of Thomas Scanlon, Frances Kamm, and Amartya Sen. Her research has been published in such journals as Philosophy & Public Affairs, the Canadian Journal of Philosophy, and Politics, Philosophy & Economics. Prior to pursuing her
Ph.D., she worked as a public interest lawyer.