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

Nicholas Barr Economics See all quotes by Nicholas Barr →

React to this quote

More by Nicholas Barr

“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.”

“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.”

“Given the external benefits higher education creates, it is efficient that taxpayers subsidies should be a permanent part of the landscape.”

Resonant Thoughts

"'Abdullah ibn 'Amr reported: "The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'A person who maintains ties of kinship is not someone who only does so with those who maintain ties with him.…"

— Prophet Muhammad ﷺ

Religion570–632

#humor

"The drug hit him like an express train, a white-hot column of light mounting his spine from the region of his prostate, illuminating the sutures of his skull with x-rays of short-circuited sexual ener…"

— William Gibson

Literature1948–2008

#humor

"In pre-war correspondence, Lee castigated the abolitionists for their political activity, and he never showed any qualms about the social order that he would later defend with arms. He also had a few …"

— Brooks D. Simpson

Politics1957

#love

"The Social Security Act 1986 was one of the most aggressive pieces of legislation in the past seven years. It has helped to destroy the foundations of the welfare state, which was envisaged to provide…"

— Jeremy Corbyn

Politics1949

#time