Wolff, Β. G. (2014) “Why Juncker’s industrial goals are unlikely to be achieved“, Bruegel Institute, 16 Ιουλίου.
Instead of setting numerical goals, the new Commission president should focus on framework conditions, the single market and market failures
‘Industrial policy is back!’ This is the message given by the President Elect of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, at his confirmation by the European Parliament yesterday. In his speech, Juncker said
“It would be naïve to believe that growth in Europe could be built on the basis of services alone. We need to bring back industry’s weight in the EU’s GDP back to 20% by 2020, from less than 16% today.”
Historical evidence suggests that this goal is unlikely to be achieved. Manufacturing’s share of GDP has decreased around the world over the last 30 years. Paradoxically, this relative decline has been a reflection of manufacturing’s strength. Higher productivity growth in manufacturing than in the economy overall resulted in relative decline. A strategy to reverse this trend and move to an industrial share of above 20 percent might therefore risk undermining the original strength of industry – higher productivity growth.
Σχετικές αναρτήσεις:
- Merritt, G. (2014) “Juncker’s Make-or-Break Presidency“, Project Syndicate, 09 Ιουλίου.
- Gros, D. (2014) “Relative direct democratic legitimacy“, Economic Policy, CEPS Commentaries, 26 Ιουνίου.
- Worth, J. (2014) “The next President of the European Council and High Representative for Foreign Affairs: a final look at the candidates“, LSE EUROPP, 15 Ιουλίου.