Reforming the Welfare State pp 295-309 | Cite as
From Welfare State to Social State: Individual Responsibility and Compassion
- 100 Downloads
Abstract
In the European welfare states, we enjoy high quality health care, historically unprecedented unemployment and pension benefits, and an otherwise dense social safety net. Yet we know that we pay too high a price and cannot sustain it at its current level. First, many social security provisions are inefficient, as they give rise to moral hazard; regulations and outright central planning, such as in health care, lead to unnecessarily high costs. Second, the total cost of the social security system is higher than what we can bear: in world markets, we can no longer command prices that are generous enough to finance the welfare state, as is evidenced by the loss of jobs. Finally, we will, in the future, not be able to sustain major elements such as the pension system, since its pay-as-you-go financing is conditioned on a sizable future generation, which we, collectively, have not been willing to raise.
Keywords
Social Security Sick Leave Welfare State Pension System Unemployment InsurancePreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Reference
- Bundesanstalt für Arbeit. 1993. Amtliche Nachrichten der Bundesanstalt für Arbeit. Sonderausgabe “Strukturanalyse 1993.” Nürnberg: Bundesanstalt für Arbeit.Google Scholar
- Commission of the European Communities. 1994. Soziale Sicherheit in Europa 1993. Luxemburg: Amt für amtliche Veröffentlichungen der Europäischen Gemeinschaften.Google Scholar
- Goodmann, J., and G.L. Musgrave. 1992. Patient Power: Solving America’s Health Care Crisis. Washington: Cato Institute.Google Scholar
- Institut der Deutschen Wirtschaft. 1994. Zahlen zur wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung der Bundesrepublik Deutschland 1994. Köln: Deutscher Instituts-Verlag.Google Scholar
- Institut der Deutschen Wirtschaft. 1995. Informationsdienst 15/95. Köln: Deutscher Instituts-Verlag.Google Scholar
- Prewo, W. 1995. Vom Wohlfahrtsstaat zum sozialen Staat. Hannover: Industrieund Handelskammer Hannover.Google Scholar
- Sachverständigenrat (zur Begutachtung der gesamtwirtschaftlichen Entwicklung). 1995. Im Standortwettbewerb: Jahresgutachten 1995/96. Stuttgart: Metzler-Poeschel.Google Scholar
- Statistisches Bundesamt. 1994. Statistisches Jahrbuch 1994 für die Bundesrepublik Deustchland. Stuttgart: Metzler-Poeschel.Google Scholar