Myrdal's Institutional Theory of the State: From Welfare to Predation - and Back?

Sebastian Berger

Journal of Economic Issues, 2009, vol. 43, issue 2, 353-360

Abstract: This paper argues that Gunnar Myrdal's theory of the state fruitfully elucidates which set of factors contributed to the transformation of the Welfare State into what James K. Galbraith has described as the modern Predator State. Myrdal employs the circular cumulative causation hypothesis (Berger forthcoming; 2008; Berger and Eisner 2007) to explain the evolution of the state as the result of multiple interrelated factors. Myrdal's evolutionary-institutional analysis of the state is found to be compatible with Galbraith's (2008) recent Veblenian approach in that it highlights the role of corruption (pecuniary considerations) in the relationship between big business (the "organized sector") and government.

Date: 2009
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DOI: 10.2753/JEI0021-3624430208

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