I think people would agree that the one most ubiquitous tool for welfare measurement in the economic literature and in economic education is the notion of total surplus.

Throughout it's history, total surplus has been criticized several times and on different ground. This post aims at being a repository of all those critiques.

Which are the critiques of total surplus which seem the most relevant to you?

Note: this is not meant to be a "total surplus bashing" repository. I believe some of the best critique of a concept like total surplus is rarely the one attempting to destroy the concept, and more often those which help us understand when it is best to use it, and when it might be better not to use it.