The Decline of the Welfare State
The Decline of the Welfare State

Author: Assaf Razin

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2005-01-21

Total Pages: 152

ISBN-13: 9780262264365

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An analysis of the welfare state from a political economy perspective that examines the effects of aging populations, migration, and globalization on industrialized economies. In The Decline of the Welfare State, Assaf Razin and Efraim Sadka use a political economy framework to analyze the effects of aging populations, migration, and globalization on the deteriorating system of financing welfare state benefits as we know them. Their timely analysis, supported by a unified theoretical framework and empirical findings, demonstrates how the combined forces of demographic change and globalization will make it impossible for the welfare state to maintain itself on its present scale. In much of the developed world, the proportion of the population aged 60 and over is expected to rise dramatically over the coming years—from 35 percent in 2000 to a projected 66 percent in 2050 in the European Union and from 27 percent to 47 percent in the United States—which may necessitate higher tax burdens and greater public debt to maintain national pension systems at current levels. Low-skill migration produces additional strains on welfare-state financing because such migrants typically receive benefits that exceed what they pay in taxes. Higher capital taxation, which could potentially be used to finance welfare benefits, is made unlikely by international tax competition brought about by globalization of the capital market. Applying a political economy model and drawing on empirical data from the EU and the United States, the authors draw an unconventional and provocative conclusion from these developments. They argue that the political pressure from both aging and migrant populations indirectly generates political processes that favor trimming rather than expanding the welfare state. The combined pressures of aging, migration, and globalization will shift the balance of political power and generate public support from the majority of the voting population for cutting back traditional welfare state benefits.

Economic Theory, Welfare, and the State
Economic Theory, Welfare, and the State

Author: Athanasios Asimakopulos

Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP

Published: 1991-02-01

Total Pages: 291

ISBN-13: 0773563032

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Economic Theory, Welfare, and the State looks at how economic theory can be used to investigate and analyse the operations of market economies and to provide the basis for improvements in government policy-making. The collection begins with two chapters on the history of economic thought, followed by an exploration of possible areas of conflict between the interests of groups and individuals, and an insightful blend of economic history and economic theory that sheds light on the Canadian government's policy of settling the Prairies by providing land grants. Also included are a critical analysis of rational expectations models and their use in econometrics, an examination of why money should be treated as a public good, and two contributions on international trade theory. Two chapters deal with the problem of maintaining satisfactory levels of employment and three chapters examine different aspects of public pensions. Among the contributors to this volume are a former teacher of Weldon's, his fellow students and colleagues, and former students. They are Louis Ascah, Athanasios Asimakopulos, Clarence Lyle Barber, Kenneth E. Boulding, John Burbidge, Robert D. Cairns, John S. Chipman, John H. Dales, Christopher Green, Peter Howitt, Murray C. Kemp, Gideon Rosenbluth, Robin Rowley, Thomas K. Rymes, David Schwartzman, Dan Usher, and Shigemi Yabuuchi.