Paul Spicker's article has provided a thought-provoking contribution to which I am broadly sympathetic. I have two principal concerns, however. Firstly, it fails to contextualise itself vis-à-vis some key debates. Secondly, therefore, it neglects to ask some crucial philosophical and methodological questions. As such, researchers should pause before embracing a phronetic social policy. Below, I specify the nature of my concerns, paying particular attention to the implications of phronesis for universalism. My aim is not to critique Spicker's entire article, but to draw attention to key issues to which those interested in phronetic approaches should attend.

The following acknowledgement was omitted from the original publication:

The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the BBSRC (The Biotechnology and Biosciences Research Council) for the funding of IKnowFood at York which is 4-year research programme being funded through the Global Food Security-Food System Resilience programme with contributions from BBSRC, ESRC, NERC, and the Scottish Government.

The authors apologise for this oversight.

In international comparative research, significant advances have been made in the study of the effect of social capital and the welfare state on subjective well-being (SWB). However, few studies have examined how the welfare state influences the impact of social capital on SWB. To fill this gap, from the perspectives of the crowding-out and crowding-in hypotheses, this study explores whether welfare provisions alter the role of three dimensions of social capital – namely, social trust, formal social contact, and informal social contact, in SWB. The present study utilises international comparative data from nine waves of the European Social Survey of 2002 to 2019 and a two-way fixed-effects model to evaluate the cross-level interaction effects of welfare provisions and the three dimensions of social capital on SWB. This analysis reveals that welfare spending strengthens the positive association between social capital and SWB.

The article discusses the evolution of Newfoundland's health care system from the turn of the century to the present. During this time there were considerable changes in social conditions, political arrangements and the availability of public monies, all of which influenced the structure of the health care sector. In general terms, Newfoundland's health care system shifted from one involving low expenditures and many British type institutions to one involving high expenditures and American type institutions. The evidence suggests that the changes have been particularly beneficial for Newfoundland's merchant class, including the doctors and dentists, although some benefits have also accrued to patients and fishermen.

There are growing concerns about housing affordability throughout Europe. Recent studies by Housing Europe and the OECD have suggested that we are witnessing a generalised deterioration in housing affordability, while other studies point to worsening housing affordability for specific groups, such as renters or low-income households. The aim of this paper is to explore trends in, and incidences and determinants of, housing affordability in a comparative European context over the period 2010 to 2018. To do this we analyse data from the EU Statistics on Income and Living Conditions survey. We examine trends across different measures of housing affordability; examine its association with a variety of socio-economic characteristics and explore country-level differences in housing affordability problems. Our study finds that despite claims of worsening housing affordability, affordability measures show little sign of generalised deterioration over the period in question but that risks of affordability problems have become more concentrated on market renters during this period. At the country level, we find that gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and the at-risk-of-poverty rate are associated with housing affordability problems both between countries as well as within countries over time, while housing allowance coverage and rent regulation stringency are associated with affordability problems between countries.

This article adopts a case study approach to examine the contribution of social science research to health policy. It concentrates exclusively on the recent Royal Commission on the National Health Service. After describing its background and modus operandi the paper goes on to assess the Report's utilization of social science research, both in its diagnosis and recommendations. This assessment suggests that while the Commissioners made relatively little use of research-based evidence in their diagnosis, their recommendations provide the basis for a substantial increase in the contribution of social sicentists, particularly in the field of health services evaluation.