Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar Lecture by Dr. Price Fishback entitled "The Long-Term Trends in Social Welfare Spending in the United States and the Nordic Countries” will be held on Monday, February 12 in Mills B at 5:00 p.m. It is free and open to the public.
About the lecture:Social Welfare spending, as defined by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), includes pure transfer payments in dollars and in kind to the poor; spending by social insurance programs like old-age pensions, workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance, and Medicare; and other expenditures on health care. The U.S. and the Nordic Countries are seen as two extremes in the provision of social welfare spending, and the presentation compares and contrasts the rise in spending over the past century. Much of the rise has come in the form of social insurance, funded by the contributions of workers and employers, while only a small part has come through pure transfer payments. Much to most people’s surprise, the U.S. spends as much as or more than the Nordic countries on social welfare spending, but they do it in quite different ways.
Download to my Calendar