The welfare state is in crisis. The promises made in its name are a mixture of wishful thinking and outright lies.

Review: After the Welfare State

by Ari Armstrong



"The welfare state is in crisis. The promises made in its name are a mixture of wishful thinking and outright lies. It emerged as a mechanism of power; it displaced, crowded out, and crushed voluntary and participatory institutions; it enervated and atomized societies and undercut personal responsibility; it substituted dependency and patronage for independence and rights. In usurping from citizens responsibility for their own welfare, it has turned them into clients, vassals, subjects, supplicants."
—Tom G. Palmer (After the Welfare State)


The modern welfare state began to take shape in the 1880s in Otto von Bismarck’s Germany, and it took off in the United States in the 1930s under Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s “New Deal.” Now that the welfare state is thoroughly entrenched throughout most of the world, is there any reason to question its existence or any way to eliminate it? There is a reason and a way, and these are the subjects of the essays in After the Welfare State.

The book, published by Jameson Books in conjunction with Students for Liberty and the Atlas Network (and available for download at no cost from either organization), features nine essays covering the history of the welfare state and some of the common criticisms of it. The publishers of the book intended it to be short (with only 136 pages for the essays), inexpensive (easily downloaded or shipped in bulk paperbacks), and readily available and accessible to college students. These qualities make the book a fine introduction to the history and problems of the welfare state.

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Amazon Review

This book provides a superb introduction to the folly of the welfare state. The historical examples, the discussion of adverse consequences from existing welfare programs, and the moral arguments against government-imposed redistribution are all compelling background for anyone who cares about our future prosperity. Your future depends on understanding what is in this book. Jeffrey Miron, Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Economics --Harvard University

After the Welfare State makes serious economic analysis of current events readable, enlightening, and enjoyable. Spending other people's money - even with the best of intentions - is a recipe for conflict and even catastrophe, as the authors demonstrate in one country after another. Donald J. Boudreaux, Professor of Economics, --George Mason University

After the Welfare State makes serious economic analysis of current events readable, enlightening, and enjoyable. Spending other people's money - even with the best of intentions - is a recipe for conflict and even catastrophe, as the authors demonstrate in one country after another. Donald J. Boudreaux, Professor of Economics, George Mason University --George Mason University