Ekkehard Ernst (2014) “Backing the wrong horse, The solution to ease mass unemployment is at hand, but policymakers across Europe are too blind to see it“, The European Magazine, 02 September.
Even today in 2014, the job market is likely to remain Europe’s number one problem child. Five years after the outbreak of the euro crisis and two years after Mario Draghi pledged to do “whatever it takes” to rescue the common currency, Europe’s unemployed are still waiting to hear a similar promise when it comes to safeguarding and creating jobs. In fact, the exact opposite is happening. Following a short glimmer of hope at the start of the year, the economic perspectives for the Eurozone has taken a downturn over the last months, which buried all hopes that a return to pre-crisis employment levels might be imminent.
With few exceptions, unemployment rates in most EU member countries have stabilized at a level far higher than before the crisis. A striking example of this is Spain, where unemployment figures have doubled and where every fourth person is on the dole. Even countries like the Netherlands and non-euro member states like Denmark, which once excelled at keeping unemployment low, are witnessing a sharp increase in joblessness. Only Germany and Austria have managed to keep mass unemployment at bay and to actually decrease the number of job seekers.
Relevant posts:
- Gogos, S. & Kosma, O. (2014) “Unemployment Rate in Greece: “The” Long Run Macroeconomic Challenge“, Eurobank Research Team, Economy and Markets, Vol. IX, Issue 6, June.
- Jacobs, E. (2014) “Twelve Ways to Fix the Youth Unemployment Crisis“, Governance Studies at Brookings, May.
- Arestis Ph. & M. Sawyer (2014) “‘Structural Reforms’ and Unemployment“, Triple Crisis, 16 January.