In recent years the welfare state has come under attack from
economists, and in many OECD countries there have been calls for
spending on the welfare state to be rolled back. Critics argue that
the size of transfer programs is responsible for a decline in
economic performance and that cuts in spending are a prerequisite
for a return to the golden age of full employment and economic
growth. A. B. Atkinson takes such criticisms seriously, placing
them under empirical and analytical scrutiny.Atkinson brings a
welcome sense of balance to the debate. He warns that many
currently fashionable policy proposals to roll back the welfare
state could have unintended negative side effects, based as they
are on an oversimplified view of the workings of the economy and of
how welfare arrangements affect economic incentives. He asks
whether there are ways in which the welfare state plays a positive
role in the modernization of the economy. He develops new models of
the labor market and of the growth of the corporate economy, which
provide insight into the role and consequences of unemployment
insurance, and the implications of moves to private pension
funds.Atkinson does not attempt to determine whether or not
spending should be cut. Rather, his aim is to clarify the nature of
the charges leveled against the welfare state, so that readers can
make up their own minds.Copublished with the Center for Economic
Studies and the Ifo Institute
General
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