Monday, April 22, 2013

Things that are not sustainable...

The phrase "unintended consequences" is paired all too often with government interventions as it is here - as Danes begin realizing the problems around their social welfare system that rewards those who are unemployed even more than some who are (NYT):

It began as a stunt intended to prove that hardship and poverty still existed in this small, wealthy country, but it backfired badly. Visit a single mother of two on welfare, a liberal member of Parliament goaded a skeptical political opponent, see for yourself how hard it is.

It turned out, however, that life on welfare was not so hard. The 36-year-old single mother, given the pseudonym “Carina” in the news media, had more money to spend than many of the country’s full-time workers. All told, she was getting about $2,700 a month, and she had been on welfare since she was 16.

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