Suchergebnisse

Discusses the fate of the welfare state in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). The unbridled neoliberalism practiced by the FRG has meant industrial reconstruction geared toward the vested interests of major capital owners, resulting in mass umemployment, dismantling of the welfare state, undermining of national wage agreements, higher taxes, & lowering of safety standards. It is argued that the West German welfare state had begun to crack long before unification as structural changes led to massive long-term unemployment, higher taxes on wages, & lower taxes on business. The backlash against neoliberalism has been sporadic due to worker fears of unemployment, & the collaboration of the media in furthering the elite's goals. M. Greenberg

Suggests that it would be more appropriate to think in terms of a 'development crisis' rather than in terms of a questioning of the system as a whole: the essential services the welfare state renders must not be lost sight of, despite their defects and present problems. Two main aspects of this developmental crisis have come to the fore: a financial crisis, and a crisis in terms of effeciency/effectiveness. (JLN)