The welfare state made Britain poor

In this addapted extract from his provocative new book, the journalist James Bartholomew argues that if Brtain had never built its welfare state it would be a much richer country.

In this adapted extract from his provocative new book, the journalist James Bartholomew argues that if Britain had never built its welfare state, it would be a much richer country.

It is 1961 in Hong Kong. A balding, bespectacled civil servant has just been promoted. John Cowperthwaite, 46, has been made Financial Secretary, the number three in the official hierarchy. He goes to live in the Government home provided, which is grand by Hong Kong standards. But he lives modestly. Cowperthwaite is Scottish through and through - not Scottish like Rob Roy or Billy Connolly. A flinty kind of Scottish.

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