From Social State to Minimal State

From Social State to Minimal State
Author Anders Fogh Rasmussen
Original title Fra socialstat til minimalstat
Country Denmark
Language Danish
Subject Political economy
Publisher Samleren
Publication date
 1993
Pages 235
ISBN 87-568-1204-3
LC Class JN7161.F64 1993

From Social State to Minimal State (Danish: Fra socialstat til minimalstat) is a book written by Anders Fogh Rasmussen. Published in 1993, it expounded the future Danish Prime Minister's classical liberal worldview. He argued that Denmark should transition from a welfare state into a low-tax economy, and delivered advice and reflections on how it should be done.

Rasmussen was a backbencher, and the book formed a part of his strident criticism of the post-war welfare state.[1] In the book, Rasmussen said that the welfare state was "developing a slave mentality in the people."[2] He argued that economic inequality was the prime motivating force in society, maintaining that its existence was not, by itself, a bad thing: only poverty was.[3]

Rasmussen repeatedly makes the point in the book that Danish people pay the highest taxes in the world, which he would press again in the 2001 parliamentary election that saw him become Prime Minister.[4] However, he has otherwise repudiated many of the views expressed in the book:[5] moving towards the orthodox centre-right and supporting environmentalism.[2]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ East et al (2003), p. 139
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Thompson, Wayne C. (2008). Nordic, Central, and Southeastern Europe. Harpers Ferry: Stryker-Post Publications. p. 72. ISBN 978-1-887985-95-6.
  3. ↑ Schofield Clark, Lynn (2007). Religion, Media, and the Marketplace. Piscataway: Rutgers University Press. p. 209. ISBN 978-0-8135-4018-4.
  4. ↑ Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations: World Leaders. Bloomington: Indiana University. 2002. p. 160. ISBN 978-0-7876-6610-1.
  5. ↑ East et al (2003), p. 140

References