Abstract
Globalized markets, digital economies, robotization, artificial intelligence and their impact on social inclusion have recently received increasing scholarly attention in economics, law, sociology, philosophy and development studies. Super-fast economic changes spurred by world-widely integrated markets and related explosive social inequality represent one of the most triggering questions of the modern world. One that can even rival the fatal issue of the global climate change. This paper seeks to address the role of public law as an ex ante mechanism designed to remove the causes of inequality in the first place and not to treat its consequences. This paper, while employing an example of the optimal regulatory intervention in the field of public law, particularly its regulation of public education, joints critical debate and expresses the view that legal system might indeed be in certain circumstances superior to the classic ex post interventions (e.g. tax-and transfer system or all-encompassing subsidies) at reducing income inequality. The paper is an attempt to find out what new light the legal theory can shed on the issues of social exclusion, inequality, public law regulation of higher education, optimal governmental intervention and of their possible success or failure in order to help to clarify it.