Professor Nicholas Barr will deliver a lecture on ‘Welfare state – necessity not luxury’ tomorrow at 11am at the Central Bank of Malta.

The lecture will outline four sets of reasons why countries have a welfare state: to address market failures, to share risk, to assist economic growth and to address distributional concerns.

It then will discuss the design of welfare states, considering, in turn, the approaches taken to address income risks in working life and retirement, health, skills and social risks. It will conclude with a discussion of how to combine good design with fiscal sustainability.

Admission is free of charge but registration is required on publicrelations@centralbankmalta.org. For more information, visit https://www.centralbankmalta.org/en/event-details/47 .