Books › The economics of the welfare state
The economics of the welfare state
First published 1987 · 498 pages
A rigorous, analytical exploration of why social safety nets make economic sense.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like sitting in a masterclass on public economics, guided by a steady, authoritative voice. The atmosphere is strictly intellectual and pragmatic, stripping away pure sentiment to examine the welfare state through the cold, clear lens of market efficiency and structural necessity. The prose is comprehensive and academic, carefully building arguments around health care, education, and housing before pivoting to forward-looking challenges like demographic shifts and genetic screening. It offers a rigorous, analytical journey rather than an emotional one, appealing directly to the logical mind. This is essential reading for students of social policy and economics who crave a definitive, objective framework for understanding how and why modern safety nets function.
- Mood
- intellectual
- serious
- pragmatic
- Tone
- academic
- analytical
- objective
- authoritative
- forward-looking
- Pace
- steady
- Themes
- economic efficiency · social policy · demographic challenges · market failure · the future of welfare
- The writing
- Clear, comprehensive, and highly structured, designed to deliver complex economic arguments with academic precision.
- The arc
- A rigorous intellectual journey from foundational economic principles to complex, forward-looking policy challenges.
- Who it's for
- Upper-level undergraduate and graduate students of public economics, as well as policy enthusiasts seeking a definitive analytical framework.
Content notes
- discussions of poverty
- discussions of disability and aging
About the book
"When this book was first published in 1987 it was widely acclaimed as a comprehensive and definitive text on the economics of the welfare state. Its main argument is that the different parts of the welfare state - cash benefits, health care, education and housing - exist not just to help the poor, but also for efficiency reasons, in areas where private markets would be inefficient or would not exist at all."--Jacket.
"Nicholas Barr has included a number of new, largely forward-looking, topics in this latest edition: anticipation of the new Labour government's policies in areas such as pensions; longer-term insurance to cover disability and residential care in old age; the impact of genetic screening on medical insurance and life insurance; challenges to the welfare state, including demographic change, changes in family structure, the trend towards the feminization of poverty, and changes in the structure of jobs; and debates about the welfare state - is it desirable; and, if desirable, is it any longer feasible given demographic and other challenges?"--Jacket.
"The Economics of the Welfare State continues to be essential reading for upper level undergraduate and first year graduate students of public economics, and social and public policy."--Jacket.
Description from Open Library.
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