CAN THE WELFARE STATE BE THE FUTURE OF THE GLOBAL ECONOMY?
CAN THE WELFARE STATE BE THE FUTURE OF THE GLOBAL ECONOMY?

Summary/Abstract: Welfare states are results of the dysfunctionality of markets. The relationship between a state and a market can decide the size and the range of a welfare state. For political and institutional economists this is a quite interesting topic, in terms of differences between economic and political institutions across the world. Starting from the Bismarckian policies, welfare states are providing people with economic development and prosperity. It took time, nearly a century, to apply all of the components of welfare states to the global economy, but in the end, it gave the fruits. Likewise, recent surveys show that these components are attractive for Europeans, for example, universal access to education, healthcare, social security, and others. Even if there are numerous theories about the retrenchment of a welfare state, on the contrary, it continues to increase and expand the range. However, will it maintain the development in the future? With the Swedish case, it can be shown that, even if this question still needs much more time and investigation, one aspect is clear: a welfare state is on a solid basement and it will continue to grow.

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