From Social State to Minimal State

From Social State to Minimal State

Author	Anders Fogh Rasmussen
Original title	Fra socialstat til minimalstat
Language	Danish
Subject	Political economy
Publisher	Samleren
Publication date	1993
Publication place	Denmark
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 by Anders Fogh Rasmussen. Published in 1993, it expounded the future Danish prime minister's classical liberal worldview. He argues that Denmark should transition from a welfare state into a low-tax economy and delivers advice and reflections on how it should be done.

Rasmussen was a backbencher, and his book formed a part of his strident criticism of the post-war welfare state.^[1] Rasmussen claims that the welfare state was "developing a slave mentality in the people".^[2] He argues that economic inequality is the prime motivating force in society and maintains that its existence in itself is not a bad thing but that only poverty is.^[3]

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

References

1. East et al (2003), p. 139.
2. 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.

Sources

• East, Roger; Thomas, Richard (2003). Profiles of People in Power: The World's Government Leaders. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-85743-126-1.