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Liberty, Equality, Fraternity ... and welfare

How do the political camps map their favourite welfare policies onto political values? A report from the Ax:son Johnson Foundation seminar on the future of the welfare state

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Are we all Rawlsians now? Not quite.

When I sat down to chair an afternoon seminar on the welfare state organised by Bella Thomas for the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation, I equipped myself with a bingo card. Against each of the speakers, I had six columns: "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, Left, Right and Rawlsian" and I made a few predictions about what the grille would like by the end of the day (no one likes to be boxed in, so I've rubbed out my ticks in the screenshot below).