Read all posts for ‘political economy’

This article is written by Thieß Petersen and it was originally published on e-International Relations under a CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 license. Thieß Petersen is Senior Expert for the project “Global Economic Dynamics” at the Bertelsmann Stiftung in Gütersloh and lecturer at the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt/Oder.   In a recent article, […]

Western cultures have developed an illusion of the welfare state. The US and Europe must correct this cultural misperception of what a welfare state can and cannot accomplish before they can successfully address its economic problems.

The provision of health insurance has become a controversial issue in American politics. But only two options are publicly discussed—the status quo and a big-government solution. A greater understanding of the proper role of government can help elucidate other viable options, which do not have the downsides of the United States’ current reform law, Obamacare.