“The welfare state may thus face a wave of hostile public opinion and as a result may well pass through a difficult phase, with the need for consolidation and even retrenchment. However, if the reasons suggested here for the change in the climate of opinion are correct, the trouble could be temporary.”

—  Albert O. Hirschman

"The Welfare State in Trouble: Systemic Crisis or Growing Pains?" The American Economic Review (May 1980).

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Albert O. Hirschman 6
German-American economist; member of the French Resistance 1915–2012

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