The Economics of the Welfare State (Paperback)

by Nicholas A. Barr (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
`'...comprehensive and accessible text...'' Aslib Book Guide, Vol.63, no.12 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description
When this book was first published in 1987 it was widely recognised as a comprehensive and definitive text on the economics of the welfare state - its efficiency, its fairness and its relevance to the whole population, not just to the poor. Although written specifically for students of economics, a diverse readership, including students of social administration and public policy, has been kept in mind throughout. Each of the technical chapters has an appendix which explains the results in non-technical terms. Nicholas Barr has included a number of new- largely forward-looking - topics in this latest edition: 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, globalization, changes in family structure, 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? The Economics of the Welfare State deserves to remain at the top of every student's reading list for public economics, social economics and social policy. Endorsements of second edition: "Nicholas Barr has written a very good book which deserves to become a standard text on the economics of the welfare state" Journal of Social Policy "... a detailed, tightly argued discussion of both the aims and the methods of social policy ... its didactic layout and style makes it accessible to students of the subject and even to non-economists like myself...He has written a text for the years to come, intelligent, thorough, informative and clear." Sir Ralph Dahrendorf - Times Higher Education Supplement "Economists seeking a unified treatment of the economics of the welfare state can stop searching. They will find Nicholas Barr's well-organised, lucidly-written volume a welcome alternative to the fragmented, incomplete discussions that appear in textbooks on public economics, labour economics and poverty and income inequality...By persistently asking the kinds of questions an economist should ask about policy issues, and sensibly answering them, the book teaches readers much about the value of an economic approach to policy issues." Journal of Economic Literature --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 498 pages
• Publisher: Stanford University Press; 3 edition (June 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0804735522
• ISBN-13: 978-0804735520
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,237,554 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Truth Starts Here, April 10, 2000

By	Ian Montgomerie (Canada) - See all my reviews

Let me begin this review with the recommendation: this book is the ultimate resource for a clear, non-polemic analysis of the welfare state. If you really want to learn about the ins and outs of welfare and privatization - and I mean _really_ learn - this is the book you want. You could read any five other books about welfare economics, income inequity, and social policy without getting as thorough an examination as this book contains. If you want to learn about the ins and outs of privatization and the welfare state, what works and what doesn't (and why), look no further. I have never read, nor even heard of, a more thorough treatment - which is remarkable considering that this book is accessible to any intelligent reader with a bit of patience.

"The Economics of the Welfare State" is commonly used as a textbook for upper year undergraduate and introductory graduate courses in economics. This does not, however, mean that you actually need to have such an economic background to understand it. This 415 page text starts from the beginning, covering all of the economic theory and politucal background you need to understand the contents. In my opinion, it would help to have taken a course in introductory microeconomics before reading this book. That isn't strictly necessary, though, I just think it's helpful in order to understand such serious economic ideas without too much head-scratching. In fact, the book has simplified summaries of the theory chapters for "non-technical" readers, and suggestions of what you should read, depending on your interests, if you don't want to read the whole thing.

The author warns that you may have to take some stuff on faith if you skip the theory, but trust me, you can because it's rock solid.

Oh yes, and while this may be a book on economics, you won't find very many equations in it. And every single one of them can safely be skipped without really hurting the general reader's understanding of the book. This isn't an abstract work, either - Britain is used as the major case study, with many comparisons to other countries such as the US. Specific institutions and policies are described and evaluated, with direct application to real-world political debates. Every bit of theory in the book is directly applied to relevant, detailed examples. The author intends to educate, rather than to pursuade, so the issues are considered in light of multiple ideological perspectives. After describing the major views on the welfare state, all the way from libertarianism through to socialism, Barr points out the relevance of his major points to the perspectives of these various groups.

This is a good book for people interested in evaluating just about any political orientation. It uses clear, well-justified arguments to demonstrate that market failure in many important areas is unambiguous, and that government intervention may not only be superior in principle, but often is superior in the real world. It considers these issues from different perspectives, making it clear that concerns for economic efficiency and social equity may lead to different conclusions.

The author makes no bones about shooting down all unsubstantiated arguments, not just conservative ones. He clearly demolishes a lot of liberal and socialist arguments that some services should be provided by government - if the market really is more efficient at producing something that one wants to guarantee, the government should usually pay for it, not produce it. He considers many situations, such as housing, where the historical use of subsidy and regulation rather than outright income transfers appears to be economically inefficient and inequitable. Barr also explains how some policies designed to decrease inequality can actually increase it. He describes the university system in the UK as regressive, that is, promoting inequality. While it is paid for by all and free to all, in practice the rich are much more likely to actually attend university. Those wishing to promote social equality would do best to read these arguments, so that they can avoid supporting measures destined to backfire. He even demonstrates that some major political arguments have been over trivialities. He explains how the differences between "pay as you go" social insurance schemes and those funded by one's own previous contributions are actually not all that great, contrary to much of the debate about Social Security in the US.

3 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Biased but useful, December 14, 1997

By	[e-mail] (Hans O. Melberg, Oslo, Norway) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Economics of the Welfare State (Paperback)

This is a useful book since it is clear, systematic and rigorous. It is biased because it leaves out certain arguments and are more critical of opposing arguments than arguments in favour of the welfare state. For instance, very few pages are devoted to discussing government failure and the information problems facing the government