OECD, (2013), OECD Skills Outlook 2013: First results from the survey of adult skills, Paris: OECD. Key Findings of the Survey Progress across generations Some countries have made impressive progress over recent decades in equipping more people with better literacy and numeracy skills. Young Koreans, for example, are outperformed only by their Japanese peers, while Korea’s 55 to 64 year-olds are among the three lowest-performing groups of this age. Older …Read More
Traynor, I., (2013), “Crisis over in the eurozone? Not in the real world”, The Guardian, 09 October. According to the detailed study being released on Thursday by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies: “The long-term consequences of this crisis have yet to surface. The problems caused will be felt for decades … The economic crisis is creating the conditions for a widespread social crisis, whereby a …Read More
Marangudakis, M., Rontos, K. and Xenitidou, M., (2013), “State Crisis and Civil Consciousness in Greece”, Hellenic Observatory Papers on Greece and Southeast Europe, GreeSE Paper No.77, October. This is a sociological study of the self in modern Greece. Based upon a pilot study of social and political attitudes in Greece today, the study probes the sources of the moral self and of the internalized cosmological and ontological principles in Greece …Read More
World Economic Forum, (2013), “The Human Capital Report”, World Economic Forum, October. The Human Capital Report details the findings of a new Index which measures countries on their ability to develop and deploy healthy, educated and able workers through four distinct pillars: Education, Health & Wellness, Workforce & Employment and Enabling Environment. Relevant Posts De Molli, V., (2013), “European Best Performers in Times of Crisis”, EconoMonitor, 18 September. World …Read More
Oxfam, (2013), “A Cautionary Tale: The true cost of austerity and inequality in Europe”, Oxfam Briefing Paper, 12 September. European austerity programmes have dismantled the mechanisms that reduce inequality and enable equitable growth. With inequality and poverty on the rise, Europe is facing a lost decade. An additional 15 to 25 million people across Europe could face the prospect of living in poverty by 2025 if austerity measures continue. Oxfam …Read More
Binder, D., (2013), “Countries with higher rates of taxation tend to have happier citizens”, European Politics and Policy Blog, 10 September. What impact does a country’s level of taxation have on the happiness of its citizens? Using OECD data, David Binder assesses the relationship between high taxation levels and measures of citizen wellbeing/happiness. He finds that there is a correlation between high taxation and increased happiness, but that there are …Read More
Billington, I., (2013), “Euro-Zone Unemployment Unlikely to Fall Quickly”, The Wall Street Journal, The Euro Crisis Blog, 10 September. The euro zone may have emerged from recession this year, but unemployment is unlikely to fall quickly with companies less likely to hire staff in the final three months of the year than they were earlier in 2013, a survey of employers showed Tuesday. The quarterly Manpower Employment Outlook shows that, while there …Read More
European Commission, (2013), “Standard Eurobarometer”, N. 79, Spring 2013. This report presents the first results of the Standard Eurobarometer 79 survey, which was carried out between 10 and 26 May 2013 in 34 countries or territories1: the 27 European Union Member States, the six candidate countries (Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, Iceland, Montenegro and Serbia), and the Turkish Cypriot Community in the part of the country that …Read More
Derviş, Kemal, (2013), “The Next Social Contract”, www.project-syndicate.org, 18 July. Around the world nowadays, persistent unemployment, skill mismatches, and retirement frameworks have become central to fiscal policy – and to the often-fierce political debates that surround it. The advanced countries are facing an immediate “aging” problem, but most of the emerging economies are also in the midst of a demographic transition that will result in an age structure similar to …Read More
OECD, (2013), Employment Outlook, Paris. Concerns are growing in many countries about the strains that persistently high levels of unemployment are placing on the social fabric. Over five years have passed since the onset of the global financial and economic crisis but an uneven and weak recovery has not generated enough jobs to make a serious dent in unemployment in many OECD countries. In April 2013, 8% of the OECD …Read More
