Table of Contents

1: Introduction
Part 1 Economic theory
2: Theory
Part 2 Insurance
3: The mirage of private unemployment insurance
4: Problems with medical insurance
5: Twenty-first century insurance issues
Part 3 Pensions
6: The economics of pensions
7: Misleading guides to pension design
8: Pension design: the options
9: Twenty-first century pensions issues
Part 4 Education
10: Core issues in the economics of education
11: Information problems
12: Designing student loans
13: Financing higher education: the options
14: Twenty-first century education issues
Part 5 The welfare state in a changing world
15: The welfare state in post-communist countries
16: The welfare state in a changing world

About the Author

Nicholas Barr has a BSc and MSc from the London School of Economics and a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, where he was a Fulbright Scholar. He is Reader in Economics at the LSE, the author of numerous books and articles on the economics of the welfare state and the finance of higher education including "The Economics of the Welfare State" (OUP, 3rd edn, 1998) and "Labor Markets and Social Policy in Central and Eastern Europe" (OUP, 1994), and a
member of the editorial board of the "International Social Security Review".

Reviews

Presents a cogently argued account of the principles underlying Welfare State policies and their practical consequences ... I have not seen the economic and public policy distinction between compulsory and post-compulsory education set out so clearly and convincingly before. Judith Marquand, Mansfield College, Oxford, Journal of Public Policy The book is a fruitful blend of economic modelling and institutional analysis ... An impressive feature is the author's discussion in each section of "twenty first century issues" and the final part of the book on "The Welfare State in a Changing World" ... this book goes to the heart of the economic issues surrounding the welfare state, and stimulates the reader to further thought. Tony Atkinson, Nuffield College, Oxford If I were asked to design a social policy course from scratch ... I would certainly include Nicholas Barr's book as a key text ... this is a stimulating and successful text, a good example of the contribution economic analysis can make to social policy teaching and study. Rudolf Klein, London School of Economics and London School of Hygiene, Social Policy Barr's book can be strongly recommended to anyone with an interest in the development of social policy ... Excellent and timely. Sir Howard Davies, Times Higher Education Supplement