The welfare of nations / James Bartholomew.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bartholomew, James, 1950- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Welfare state.

Physical Description:

xvi, 454 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Washington, DC : Cato Institute, [2016]

Summary:

Welfare states have spread across the globe, transforming modern civilization. But the take-over is often going badly. In Marseilles, armed drug gangs dominate the social housing estates. In America, an outstandingly wealthy country, 45 million people are dependent on food stamps. In Britain, the NHS has one of the worst records for cancer care in the advanced world. Many countries are collecting more than ever in taxes but managing to get deeper into debt because of their burgeoning welfare states. All around the world, culture is being damaged by welfare state dependency while governments become more and more like Big Brother, telling us what we must do. The twentieth century experienced an epochal war between capitalism and communism. Bartholomew argues that, out of the ashes of that conflict, the real winner has been neither communism nor capitalism. It has been welfare statism the new, defining form of government of our age that has swept across the advanced world. Without any revolution or great theorist, welfare states are changing the nature of modern civilization. But in what ways? And what lessons can be learned before it is too late? James Bartholomew traveled around the world seeing how cultures and lives are being changed seeing what is going wrong but also looking for countries where they are making better policy decisions. His book is an unparalleled investigation in which he tells the story of the people and places he visited. He takes the reader on a journey, which includes burnt-out cars in France, a tough-minded benefits office in Singapore and innovative hospitals in Spain."

Contents:

1 Why Are So Many Swedish People Disabled? The World of Welfare from Opheltas to Bismarck to the Clever Research of Kathryn Edin 1

2 Heart of the Darkness: Welfare States and Unemployment 19

3 In Search of the Best Health Care System in the World: Rather Like looking for the Lost Ark of the Covenant 55

4 "Daisy, Cross Your Fingers" The Scandal of State Education 87

5 "Do I Have 'Stupid' Tattooed on My Forehead?" Social Housing-Apple Pie with Poison in the Filling 125

6 "In Our Liberal Society, There Is a Group of Staunchly Conservative People-Children" Inconvenient Truths about Parenting 157

7 "People Used to Be Grateful and Eager. Now the Attitude Is, 'I Want This. You Get It for Me.": The Effect of Welfare States on Behavior 187

8 Not to Be Read by Anyone under the Age of 40: Pensions and Their Unexpected Consequences 215

9 "While Her Dear Father Lived, Any Change of Condition Must Be Impossible for Her. She Would Never Quit Him": Who Cares for the Elderly? 247

10 "All Animals Are Equal, But Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others" The Public Sector 273

11 "It's Like Putting All Bus Drivers through Astronauts' Training" The Training and Qualifications Bonanza 305

12 Democracy Is Like a Drunk Husband: The Trouble with Representative Democracies 323

13 And the Winner Is ... Communism Capitalism Welfare Statism! Summary 343.

Notes:

Originally published in Great Britain in 2015 by Biteback Publishing Ltd..

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Bartholomew, James, 1950- author. Welfare of nations

ISBN:

9781939709912

1939709911

OCLC:

922912130