Fat and Mean by David M. Gordon

Author:David M. Gordon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Free Press

The United States is touted for its “jobs miracle” and its successes on the employment and unemployment front. But Japan, Germany, Norway, and Sweden all have had lower average unemployment rates than the United States, even during the 1990s. Only the Netherlands fared worse, and its average unemployment rate during the 1990-94 period was barely higher than that for the United States. Even facing an increasingly threatening global environment, the cooperative economies have by and large been able to keep a steady course along the high road. Balancing wage growth, productivity growth, labor supply, and unemployment requires coordination and cooperation. Where the institutions for such coordination remain in place and the will for cooperation prevails, a reasonable balance can still be achieved. In situations where the cooperative economies were still “capable of mobilizing such support and self-discipline,” Oxford economist Andrew Glyn writes, “full employment and an extension of other egalitarian policies was sustainable.” 63

So the basic story line remains. Even during an era of rising unemployment in many European economies, the high road still looks attractive. The price we pay for traveling the low road remains substantial.

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