This book provides a reassessment of the government's role in the provision of social insurance. It shows how President Reagan's proposal for a transition to block grants is designed to lay the responsibility for financing the spending in the hands of the same political decision-makers.

Preface -- Reducing Government Expenditure Growth: A British View -- How to Reduce Government Growth: An American View -- Restructuring Fiscal Federalism -- Policy for the Nationalised Industries: The British Problem -- Declining Subsidies to Higher Education: An Economic Analysis -- Reassessing the Cost of Social Insurance Programs -- Reforming Social Security for Old Age -- The Role of Government in the Housing Sector -- Market Approaches to Environmental Protection -- Deregulating Air Transportation: The U. S. Experience -- Kieler Studien -- Institut für Weltwirtschaft an der Universität Kiel