The New Paternalism.(Brief Article)

Economist (US), The, December, 1997

THE NEW PATERNALISM. Edited by Lawrence Mead. Brookings; 343 pages; $42.95. Sold in Britain by Plymbridge; K33.50.

AMERICA'S poor used to get benefits, including food stamps, with few strings attached. Nowadays, entitlements are out of fashion. Poor people are being asked to "earn" their handouts, by working or by agreeing to change their ways. Lawrence Mead of New York University has edited a wide-ranging, fascinating set of essays on this approach, known as "The New Paternalism". Entitlement policies have broadly failed, Mr Mead believes. Instead, he argues powerfully for a clearer, fairer "social contract" under which needy people, especially young ones, get help only if they do their bit: by agreeing to stay in school, for example, or to try to give up things,...

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