Liberalism and the Welfare State

This volume sets a new benchmark with its very well-documented investigation into the nature of the interaction between the history of the welfare state and the history of liberalism in all its varieties. It is an original and scholarly account of national cases, deftly orchestrated by the editors to produce a coherent and well-focused picture. -- Maria Cristina Marcuzzo, Professor of Political Economy, University of Rome, La Sapienza Finally setting it straight that liberalism and the welfare state are not at odds with each other at all, but at the very foundations of Western socio-economic reconstruction since at least the 1930s. The editors provide fundamental reading for understanding the origins, history and undermining of the welfare state (and its stubborn resistance to wither away completely). They simultaneously show that many questions remain to be addressed in what is growing into a new field as economic history, political history and intellectual history join forces. This book is a new elementary building block for this history. -- Hagen Schulz-Forberg, Aarhus University This book untangles the contributions and criticisms of economists to the welfare state in Britain, Germany, and Japan over the last six decades. Those seeking a field guide to the historical divergences of liberalism and neoliberalism in the twentieth century need look no further. The authors deliver with detail and depth. -- Quinn Slobodian, Department of History, Wellesley College