Emergency of the Welfare State

Government spending relative to national income in the United States has never matched the percentages by the western European countries since 1870 and during the 1950s and 1960s, the European countries have adopted a welfare infrastructure. However, recently, these huge government expenditures have only contributed to the financial crisis that Europe is currently facing as debt increased and government bonds became risky to invest in. The article discusses the status of the welfare state and its negative impact on the economic nature of the European states.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-welfare-states-reckoning/2011/12/02/gIQAI1xrTO_story.html