The NYT presented this assertion from a Columbia University professor in an article on the future of socialist political parties in Europe. It provides no background or context. On its face, the assertion seems obviously wrong. Countries like Denmark and Sweden with very strong welfare states have maintained healthy rates of growth and low rates of unemployment, until the current crisis. By comparison, the United States, the wealthy country with the least developed welfare state, has an unsustainable trade deficit and a health care system that is threatening to bankrupt the country.
--Dean Baker
