In this volume, Cogan, an economist, provides a history of U.S. federal entitlement programs from the colonial period to the present. His focus is on the Congressional debates surrounding the creation and legislative modifications of the major programs in U.S. history, providing in each chapter a summary of those debates and what the pro and con arguments were for each program in different eras. The main thesis of the volume is stated in the introduction, “The creation of entitlement programs brings forth relentless forces that cause them to inexorably expand. … When first enacted, entitlement programs…confine benefits to a group of individuals who are deemed to be particularly worthy of assistance. As time passes, groups of excluded individuals come forth claiming they are no less deserving of aid” (4).
The first few chapters recount the history of the benefits for veterans, most often those who were disabled. These benefits constituted...