January 18, 2006
THE EUROPEAN COURT SAYS THIS IS THIS IS ILLEGAL
US beats old EU states on productivity (Chris Giles, Financial Times, January 18th, 2006)
Another year of poor productivity growth sealed a decade of underperformance by leading European economies that are falling further and further behind the US, the world's most authoritative guide to productivity shows today.Figures for 2005 produced by the Conference Board, the global business organisation, report productivity growth in the 15 old members of the European Union of only 0.5 per cent, compared with 1.8 per cent in the US and 1.9 per cent in Japan. In contrast, productivity in the 10 new members, mostly in eastern Europe, grew rapidly in 2005, rising by 6.2 per cent as they took advantage of EU membership to increase both the hours worked in their economies and the value of the output of every worker.
Annual growth in national output for every hour worked in the EU 15 averaged 1.4 per cent between 1995 and 2005, compared with 2.4 per cent in the US.
How pre-post-modern.
Posted by Peter Burnet at January 18, 2006 7:01 PMNo money, no carriers no submarines, by Jingo.
Posted by: Lou Gots at January 18, 2006 7:14 PMIn March 2000 the EU govt heads met in Lisbon, where they agreed to make the EU "the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-driven economy by 2010". How? "By stepping up the process of structural reform for competitiveness and innovation."
Somehow I don't think they're going to make their target.
Posted by: Gideon at January 18, 2006 7:47 PMLike I keep saying, by 2010 they will be in D.C., hat in hand.
Posted by: jim hamlen at January 18, 2006 11:03 PM