The book is a vigorous analysis for the defense of the several programs constiting the American Welfare State. It certainly represents one of the strongest and most meaningful counter critic of the conservative critics of social programs during the last 15 years. The book belongs to an ongoing political analysis current which stresses that, for a nation, in order to compete within the new world economic order, public policies have to be extensively developed and supported, especially in the field of manpower training, universal health services and fair pension levels for retired persons. Consequently, the politics of less and less State intervention clearly runs counter to the ability of a nation to address the challenges posed by a worldwide economy.