The welfare state has, over the past 40 years, come under increasing attack from liberals who consider comprehensive welfare provision inimical to liberalism. Yet many of the architects of the post–World War II welfare states were liberals. Taking as examples three cases not often considered together—Britain, Germany, and Japan—this volume investigates the thinking of liberal economists about welfare. The first part explores the early history of welfare thinking, from the British New Liberals of the early twentieth century, to German ordoliberals and postwar Japanese liberal economists. This i ... More

The welfare state has, over the past 40 years, come under increasing attack from liberals who consider comprehensive welfare provision inimical to liberalism. Yet many of the architects of the post–World War II welfare states were liberals. Taking as examples three cases not often considered together—Britain, Germany, and Japan—this volume investigates the thinking of liberal economists about welfare. The first part explores the early history of welfare thinking, from the British New Liberals of the early twentieth century, to German ordoliberals and postwar Japanese liberal economists. This is followed by four chapters on neoliberalism under British Conservative and New Labour governments, after German reunification, and under Koizumi in Japan. The final two chapters explore neoliberal ideas on federalism and the response of neoliberal think tanks to the global financial crisis. These are some of the most important findings: Across the different countries, support emerged very early on for social minimum standards, but strong disagreements quickly developed, dividing economists into pro and contra camps, shaping the different regimes. In the age of retrenchment, means-tested programs, private insurance, and temporary relief in times of crisis appear to have become the norm. The strong impact of efficiency-related critiques of welfare regimes has crowded out more nuanced and complex discussions of the past. Yet neither liberalism nor economic ideas in general can be considered inimical to well-designed welfare provision. The debate on economics and welfare can be improved by considering different lineages of both liberal and neoliberal lines of economic thought.