Stealing from Each Other: How the Welfare State Robs Americans of Money and Spirit | 
 enlarge | Author: Edgar K. Browning
Publisher: Praeger Publishers
Category: Book
List Price: $44.95
Buy New: $35.96
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Avg. Customer Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 74484
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 240
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 0313348227
Dewey Decimal Number: 361.650973
EAN: 9780313348228
ASIN: 0313348227
Publication Date: June 30, 2008
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Product Description
Almost all Americans would be better off if none of the federal welfare-state policies of the last century--including Social Security--had ever been enacted. So argues economist Edgar Browning, and with good reason: In 1900, government played a very small role in the day-to-day activities of American citizens. There was no income tax. No Social Security. No federal welfare programs. No minimum wage laws. No federal involvement in education. Government was small, spending well under 10 percent of our incomes. But now, federal, state, and local governments spend more than 33 percent of our incomes. Why has government grown so much over the past century? The answer, in Browning's devastating critique of the modern welfare state, is simple: the rise of egalitarian ideology--an ideology that has not just harmed the economy but made us all poorer. This book examines all facets of the welfare state in the U.S. and its egalitarian underpinnings. Egalitarians claim, for instance, that markets are unfair and that we must have redistributive policies to produce "social justice." This reasoning supposedly justifies the two-thirds of federal spending that simply robs Peter to pay Paul. We are stealing from each other. Browning's research and trenchant analysis show that: -Almost all U.S. citizens are harmed by the welfare state--even many of its apparent beneficiaries. -Welfare-state policies have large hidden costs which all told have reduced the average income of Americans by about 25 percent. -There is much less inequality and poverty than is commonly believed. -Most taxpayers will receive less back from Social Security than they put in. Provocative? Indeed. But such conclusions result from the most thoroughgoing economic analysis of the modern welfare state yet written. Written for a general audience, Stealing from Each Other covers everything informed citizens need to know about inequality, poverty, welfare, Social Security, taxation, and the true costs of government redistributive policies.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 Objective Review August 13, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
As a talk show host, I read a book not only for its content, but also for its context and veracity. As such, I almost always source an author's endnotes to make sure that they are accurate and actually reflect or reinforce the point that the author is trying to make. Dr. Browning's work has no holes in it whatsoever. Someone opposing it would have to dig deep into a vein of mendacity to concoct such an argument.
"Stealing From Each Other" does exactly what it sets out to do, in verifiable and reason based ways - explain the disincentives caused and liabilities imposed, by the current welfare state. His book is a demonstration of the effect of reason over emotion.
Most guests get one hour to make their point. Dr. Browning got 90 minutes, and you can listen to the result at www.libertywatchradio.com/listen . The man is fascinating.
Charles Heller
Liberty Watch Radio
www.libertywatchradio.com/listen
Stealing from Each Other August 8, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
We found Dr.Edgar Brownings book, Stealing from Each Other, utterly enlightening in disclosing the actual verifiable and often surprising facts of our economy, welfare system, tax system, job prejudice, poverty, and fairness amongst the well established myths common in America. He clarifies by arguing all points of view leading the reader to obvious practical conclusions. His sound solutions are hard to refute! A must-read for anyone who cares about our welfare and our economy.
Sharmai & Keith Amber, Co-Hosts, Mastering Ourselves Radio
 Questionable publishing economics August 6, 2008
3 out of 36 found this review helpful
I have not yet read this book, but I'd love to. The reviews here at Amazon (excepting one rant) and a review in the Investor's Business Daily suggest an interesting and informative read. Unfortunately, at $44.95 this small 240 page book is grossly overpriced. This one moves from my "buy" list to my "library" list. Here's an economics lesson for Praeger Publishers: lower prices = higher sales volume = greater profits.
Exposing the Vision of the Anointed July 25, 2008
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
The undeniable, hard facts that this book presents forces the reader to the conclusion that gross statistical fallacies and political expediency have been the real causes for the continued existence of the welfare state rather than actual human benefits.
Very valuable, well-written book July 25, 2008
20 out of 21 found this review helpful
This book covers an array of important issues from taxes to social security to poverty programs. From part of a piece that I had at Fox News this week where I discuss just a small portion of his book:
A new book, "Stealing from Each Other, How the Welfare State Robs Americans of Money and Spirit" by Edgar Browning, an economics professor at Texas A&M University and a world-renowned expert on government finance, has added up the costs and consequences of the existing programs.
By 2005, the Ways and Means Committee in the House of Representatives pointed out 85 separate programs that primarily aided persons with limited incomes. Total federal, state, and local expenditures amounted to $620 billion. That came to $16,750 per person in poverty, or over $50,000 for a welfare family of three, several times higher than the official poverty line for a family of three, which was $15,577 in 2005.
Browning estimates that only 10 percent of these expenditures went to administrative costs. He provides some perspective: "We are already spending more than enough to completely eliminate poverty, even if the poor have zero earnings or other sources of income on their own." The official government estimates of the number of poor people rarely count the government aid when calculating the poor's income. Browning also notes that there are so many programs and some are so complicated, "no one understands fully how the welfare system operates."
Yet even these numbers underestimate how much help the government spends on the poor. For example, Social Security does not provide benefits that are proportional to what people pay into the system. The system provides large transfers from high-income to low-income individuals. Browning estimates the welfare portion of Social Security accounts for $100 billion a year. According to him, adding this to Medicare, other uncompensated medical care, and other costs increases welfare payments to over $1 trillion in 2005.
By comparison, Browning has noted elsewhere that the first five years of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars cost $473 billion, less than half what the war on poverty spent in one year.
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