Research Catalog

Title

The economics of the welfare state / Nicholas Barr.

Author

Barr, N. A.

Publication

Stanford, Calif. : Stanford University Press, 1998.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xxvi, 471 p. : ill.; 26 cm.

Summary

• "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.

Subject

• 1945-1997
• Welfare economics
• Great Britain > Economic policy > 1945-1964
• Great Britain > Economic policy > 1964-1979
• Great Britain > Economic policy > 1979-1997

Note

• "Originating publisher: Oxford University Press"--T.p. verso..

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. [416]-446) and indexes.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

The historical background -- Political theory : social justice and the state -- Economic theory 1: State intervention -- Economic theory 2: Insurance -- Problems of definition and measurement -- Financing the welfare state -- Contributory benefits 1: Unemployment, sickness, and disability -- Contributory benefits 2: Retirement pensions -- Non-contributory benefits -- Strategies for reform -- Health and health care -- Education -- Housing.

ISBN

0804735514

LCCN

^^^98060890^//r992

OCLC

• 40396197
• SCSB-9964923

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library