Taxing Away Poverty: the Promise and Perils of the Contemporary Welfare State

The contemporary welfare state is made possible by its ability to tax the income (and property) of some citizens and to then transfer resources to others. But can there be too much of a good thing?

Is there an upper limit to the effective level of taxation? Do universal benefit schemes and the high rates of taxation they require threaten to strangle the economies of post-industrial democracies? Are there better and worse ways to structure taxes and benefits?