A. C. Pigou as a Pioneer of Welfarism
2001 Volume 39 Issue 39 Pages 116-127
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2001 Volume 39 Issue 39 Pages 116-127
This paper deals with A. C. Pigou's economic thought before the World War I, especially in relation to Liberal Reform (1906-11). Pigou was very interested in the Royal Commission on the Poor Law and Relief of Distress. He submitted “Memorandum on some Economic Aspects and Effects of Poor Law Relief” to the Royal Commission in 1907. In this “Memorandum”, we can distinguish his two welfare criteria: the size and distribution of the national dividend. His motives to write Wealth and Welfare (1912) could be mainly found in those years.
The National Insurance Act (1911) was one of the most epoch-making laws during this period. Pigou examined this institution in his book Wealth and Welfare because labour problems, including destitution and unemployment, were an urgent economic theme for him and his contemporaries. In Unemployment (1913) he considered that not only public works as means for relieving unemployment among the poor, but also insurance and National-Minimum were necessary. Liberal Reform was an essential background of Pigou's welfare economics.
