19/06/2006 10:02:37 am
In TCS Daily: The Kids Are Not Alright. Today, TCS Daily publishes an article by me about youth unemployment in Europe. There are great differences between European countries - high levels in non-reforming countries and low in reforming ones. In turn, this might be due to whether the policies in the country make transformation and change simpler or more difficult:

"The latest figures from Eurostat (the EU′s official statistics agency) on youth unemployment are depressing for Europeans. On average, in the EU in 2005, unemployment for people under the age of 25 was 17 percent. In the US, by comparison, it was 10 percent. In Japan, it was 4 percent. ...

In the EU-15, the countries with the highest levels -- above 20 percent -- are Greece, Italy, Sweden, France, Belgium and Finland. Indeed, it is generally acknowledged that France and Italy have serious economic problems. But Sweden and Finland might surprise some. ...

Obviously, there is no "Nordic Model" when it comes to youth unemployment. In Denmark and Norway, the rate is 8-10 percent, whereas in Sweden and Finland it is 20-23 percent - the same level as in beleaguered France. ...

There are naturally many factors affecting whether young people get jobs. But a look at the Economic Freedom in the World index confirms that countries with high youth unemployment also have regulated labor markets. Denmark, Ireland and the Netherlands have rather free labor markets and the lowest levels of youth unemployment in the EU.

The new figures from Eurostat imply that young people in Europe should be in the forefront fighting for market-oriented reform. The insiders who currently try to stop reform in the belief that they benefit from today′s situation should realize that any society that denies work to the young has no future at all."

Read the entire article here - >