Institutions for Social Well-Being : alcune risposte

Institutions for Social Well-Being: The Author’s Reply - Answering the round table participants, the author illustrates the project of this book and its main findings. While the book implies a focus on social policy, the contributors have brought to it their expertise not only in welfare economics but also in macroeconomic and monetary policy. This article outlines how social policy relates to these economic issues, and adopts an international political economy approach both in explaining hierarchies among countries, and in calling into question the "efficiency/equality trade off" as a useful instrument in comparing the economic performance of Europe and the US. Finally, the article discusses the issue of a possible convergence between the social models of Europe towards those of the best performing countries. EconLit Classification: D600, E120, F300, F400, F500 Keywords: Welfare Economic, Growth, Globalization, Open Economy Macroeconomics, European Monetary Union Parole chiave: Welfare state, Crescita, Globalizzazione, Macroeconomia delle economie aperte, Unione monetaria europea