Abstract
The legal history of the construction of the welfare state gives an idea of its greatness. But this debonair sovereign, tolerant of contestation and responsible for the well-being of his subjects, seems today to be struck by misery. Exposed to systemic financial risks as a result of the opening up of its trade borders, it is seeing its resources eroded and its burdens increase. Worrying doctors are rushing to its bedside. Some are prescribing bloodletting after bloodletting, while others are already drawing up his death certificate. Rather than this lethal medicine, what we need is a precise diagnosis of the social state.
