The Modern Welfare State

In 2016, Denmark was the happiest country in the world according to a United Nations happiness report. Denmark, along with Sweden and Finland have shared 20 years of relative prosperity and now are among the wealthiest countries in the world in terms of GDP per capita. They are also “welfare states” with very high levels of taxation and redistribution—policies at odds with traditional views on the power of incentives to encourage prosperity. The influence of this model is evident is policy discussion in the US on issues ranging from educational subsidies to family-friendly workplaces. What can policy makers in other countries learn from the successes and failures of the Welfare State? This class has three goals: 1. to familiarize you with Welfare State taxes and subsidies, 2. to help you understand why these policies are successful (or appear to be successful), and 3. to give you the tools to critically evaluate suggestions for similar policy implementation in the US.