The Causes of High Unemployment: Labour-Market Sclerosis v. Macroeconomic Policy

Thomas Palley

Chapter 2 in Wages, Employment, Distribution and Growth, 2006, pp 20-48 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract The economies of Western Europe remain afflicted by high and intractable rates of unemployment, with the European Union unemployment rate standing at 8.1 per cent as of August 2004, while the unemployment rate in the 12-country euro-zone area was 9.0 per cent. Moreover, European unemployment rates have been stuck at these levels for several years. In stark contrast, the US unemployment rate touched a 30-year low of 3.9 per cent in September 2000, rose to 6.3 per cent in the most recent recession, and was back down to 5.4 per cent in September 2004. This divergence in performance has opened a great debate that is being especially vigorously pursued in Germany.

Keywords: Unemployment Rate; Real Interest Rate; Union Density; Employment Protection; Macroeconomic Policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2006
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palchp:978-0-230-37178-1_3

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DOI: 10.1057/9780230371781_3

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