Robert Samuelson On the Welfare-State’s ‘Death Spiral’
Americans dislike the term “welfare state” and substitute the bland word “entitlements.” The vocabulary doesn’t alter the reality. Countries cannot overspend and overborrow forever. By delaying hard decisions about spending and taxes, governments maneuver themselves into a cul de sac.
What happens if all these countries are thrust into Greece’s situation? One answer — another worldwide economic collapse — explains why dawdling is so risky.
The big house at the end of the cul de sac, the one with faded paint which is peeling off and is filled with beggars and bureaucrats damning the landlord as they steal the paltry belongings that are left, is the United States of America.
