This book by James Bartholomew is a truly marvellous read. Using hundreds of references he gradually dismantles the illusions created during the last 50 years in relation to the welfare state from the health service, education, social benefits, pensions and beyond. The welfare state emerges without credit and appears nothing short of a disaster. Everything to which it turns its hand ends up worse, as it creates perverse incentives and crowds out more effective, alternate provision. Living in Bristol, in one of the worst performing wards in the United Kingdom, it is easy to understand Bartholomew's conclusion that one in seven students leave school without passing a single GCSE exam, but difficult to digest the incompetence. Page after page of shocking statistics show how the welfare state hurts the poor, the sick and the vulnerable and everyone else in Britain. Despite considering alternative explanations that might absolve the welfare state of blame, we are left with the unpalatable truth that the welfare state does more harm than good. I would like to believe that this book will trigger the necessary reforms so that our faith and confidence in government- provided welfare might be restored. Somehow I doubt it. This book deserves the strongest recommendation. The author presents complex evidence in a highly readable style, without over-simplification.

Posted by James Bartholomew • Indexed in Reviews

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