INTERECONOMICS, Vol 48, No. 5· September/October 2013
Forum: EU Data Protection Reform: Opportunities and Concerns
With articles by Alexander Dix, Gregor Thüsing, Johannes Traut, Laurits Christensen, Federico Etro, Susan Ariel Aaronson and Rob Maxim
Last year, the European Commission proposed a comprehensive reform of the EU’s data protection rules. The proposed regulation has been surrounded by fierce controversy and has been the subject of frenzied lobbying by global corporations, industry groups, research centres and privacy campaigners on both sides of the Atlantic. This Forum applies cool economic reasoning to this heated issue. What are the potential economic benefits of EU harmonisation? Will the proposed regulation negatively impact the competitiveness and innovation of European firms in the global marketplace? Or could it jeopardise attempts to protect privacy as a fundamental right in civil societies?
Editorial: Europe Under Merkel’s Third Term
By Jacques Pelkmans
Now that Angela Merkel has won an impressive victory in the German election, it is tempting, if not a duty, for economists to propose a rational, coherent package of EU initiatives and reforms which would significantly improve the performance of the EU economy.
Letter from America: U.S. Youth: A Lost Generation in the Making?
By Sylvia A. Allegretto
The Great Recession wreaked havoc on financial and labor markets across the globe. Officially dated December 2007 through June 2009, the U.S. recession, to various degrees, is still being played out. The focus of this piece is to look at trends in the U.S. youth labor market both during and in the aftermath of the Great Recession. As was the case in Europe, the unemployment rates of American youth increased dramatically over the downturn, and they remain high today. But were the increases in the U.S. outside of historical norms, and how do they compare to those experienced in Europe?