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American and European Welfare States: Similar Causes, Similar Effects

The American welfare state is not as different from the European welfare state as conventional wisdom would have it. If we define the welfare state as that part of the state (the whole apparatus of government at all levels) devoted to taking charge of the welfare of the public, welfare-state functions cover social protection (which includes public pensions), health, and education. As shown in Table 1, these functions make up 57 percent of total U.S. government expenditures compared to 63 percent for the typical eurozone country.1 In this sense, the American welfare state is only about 10 percent smaller than the European welfare state.

By Pierre Lemieux

Read Full: Cato Journal, Vol. 33, No. 2 (Spring/Summer 2013). 

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Richard D. Baris

Rich, the People's Pundit, is the Data Journalism Editor at PPD and Director of the PPD Election Projection Model. He is also the Director of Big Data Poll, and author of "Our Virtuous Republic: The Forgotten Clause in the American Social Contract."

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Richard D. Baris

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