"We need a welfare state of some sort for efficiency reasons, and would continue to do so even if all distributional problems were solved."

Nicholas Barr Economics See all quotes by Nicholas Barr →

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“Markets can be efficient or inefficient; so can governments. thus market failure is a counterpoint to government failure.”

“Money income is a flawed measure of individual welfare.”

“Thus social insurance, in sharp contrast with actuarial insurance, can cover not only risk but also uncertainty.”

“Perfect competition must hold in product and factor markets, and also in capital markets. The assumption has two essential features: economic agents must be price takers; and they must have equal power.”

“It is argued that regulators are frequently captured by those whom they are supposed to regulate.”

“The European Commission uses an explicit relative poverty line of 60 per cent of national average income.”

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