Portugal’s fiscal crisis is the culmination of unsustainable social-welfare policies the country has pursued since its 1974 revolution. Portugal is in worse condition than other social democracies because it expanded its welfare state relatively quickly despite having little capital accumulation from which to fund it.

George Bragues is professor and program head of business at the University of Guelph-Humber in Toronto.
Defense and Foreign PolicyDemocracyEconomyEntitlements and WelfareInternational Economics and DevelopmentLatin AmericaPhilosophy and Religion
Other Independent Review articles by George Bragues
Fall 2020 Herbert Spencer’s Principle of Equal Freedom: Is It Well Grounded?
Summer 2020 Science and the Good: The Tragic Quest for the Foundations of Morality
Fall 2009 You and the State: A Fairly Brief Introduction to Political Philosophy
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