PONTUSSON AND GORNICK: WELFARE POLICIES AND ECONOMIC GROWTH

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There are many perceptions that indicated that much of the social spending in the United States goes to people who are not truly in need of public support. Conservative attitudes promote that public provision of social welfare produces a culture of state dependence by the poor. Further, increased dependence would suggest unemployment to remain stagnant or increase, as resources are being under-utilized, leading to slower economic growth. Therefore, in order to substantiate these varying perspectives, Pontusson’s article on “The Welfare State and Economic Growth” needs to be analyzed.
Pontusson analyzes redistributive policies postwar, with comparison to European countries, to clearly demonstrate the expansion that results from a welfare state being impacted by the distribution of income. In fact, overall redistribution is found directly correlated to poverty alleviation. Conversely, programs that directly impact the poor do not seem to augment the redistributive impact of social spending. Pontusson argues that such programs generally lack the widespread support in political arenas to present select benefits.
Additionally, through the analysis of a trans-national comparison, there is presented little evidence to support that expansion of a welfare state brings about great change to economic growth or to the standard of living. Referencing the data on the 1960s and 70s, it is representative that public provision of social welfare enhances the strength of the economy through enriched performance. Furthermore, continued analysis of the 80s and 90s presents more mixed evidence, as the growth inhibiting effects of the welfare state appear to cancel each other out, evaluated through the evaluating the GDP. And finally, although high ...

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...s work up for question as well as helps to understand that one needs to speculate as to whether work-family reconciliation polices have any effect on economic growth. Addressing it from a logical perspective, through allotting such time for proper caregiving to take place, it would effectively result in the parents returning to work happier and dedicate to their work and their company. Further, by maintaining these close ties to the family, there is likely to be a decrease in divorce rates. If a worker has a more stable home and a happier life, it is easy to speculate that this will lead to greater work output and overall economic growth. As such, as Gornick so elegantly put it, there is very little evidence to substantiate this speculation today; however, it will one day be possible to analyze change as a result of both redistributive and reconciliation policies.

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