INTERECONOMICS, Vol 48, No. 4· July/August 2013
With articles by Sue Maguire, Bart Cockx, Juan J. Dolado, Florentino Felgueroso, Marcel Jansen, Izabela Styczy?ska, Elish Kelly, Seamus McGuinnes, Werner Eichhorst, Holger Hinte, Ulf Rinne
Youth unemployment has been on the rise since the beginning of the crisis in 2008. Even more troublesome is the dramatic rise in the number of youth not in employment, education or training, which has led to widespread concerns about the impact on social cohesion and fears of a “lost generation”. Given the extreme differences in youth unemployment levels among member states, it is clear that no single labour market policy will be appropriate throughout the EU. There may, however, be opportunities for mutual learning on how to combat youth unemployment. This Forum explores youth unemployment in the EU via case studies of England, Belgium, Spain, Poland and Ireland. It also examines Germany’s dual vocational training system as one potential solution.
Editorial: Portugal – Political Repercussions of the Financial Rescue Plan
By Steffen Hoernig
When in early 2011 Portugal’s socialist Prime Minister José Sócrates had to submit to a €78bn bailout from the troika of the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, 40 years of democratic, social and economic development came to a close. In April 1974 a long-running dictatorship was overthrown and the process of creating a democratic state began.
Letter from America: Keys to Negotiating the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership
By Jeffrey J. Schott and Cathleen Cimino
On July 8, 2013, the United States and the European Union launched negotiations on a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The negotiators aim to deepen what is already the world’s largest commercial relationship, thereby “promoting greater growth and supporting more jobs,” and to look beyond this particular accord “to contribute to the development of global rules that can strengthen the multilateral trading system.”