ABSTRACT
This chapter examines Galbraith's views on the position of social welfare in a mixed economy. It considers the reasons for the starvation of the public services; the case for public spending; the relationship between social balance and economic growth. The chapter provides an evaluation of Galbraith's approach to the problem of social welfare. Galbraith emphasises that the science of economics was born into a poor world, a world where distrust of the state made sense since the urgent needs of life were all to be satisfied in the private sector. Galbraith's important model of social balance has a number of advantages. For one thing, it adopts an approach to welfare so broad that it soars beyond mere provision of social services to include public goods and regulatory measures as well. At the same time, however, the model presents a certain number of difficulties which Galbraith himself never satisfactorily resolves.
