Employment 'Miracles': A Critical Comparison of the Dutch, Scandinavian, Swiss, Australian and Irish Cases versus Germany and the US

The employment 'miracles' of the late 20th and early 21st century in Australia and smaller European countries like the Netherlands and Denmark have usually been considered the result of macro-economic policy and corporatist negotiations that lead to wage restraint, increased exports, and eventually more jobs. This book shows that accidental circumstances have been just as important as deliberate policies. Particularly striking is the strong correspondence of the housing price bubble-induced wealth effect and related surges in mortgage-financed consumption to the positive economic development and increased employment in most of these 'miracles' - a correspondence that also characterises recent US economic development. The Finnish, Irish, and Swedish upsurge is furthermore, similar to the one in the US, due to innovative policy. Wage restraint, so central to the discussion of 'new social pacts', did not make a difference. The same is true for welfare cuts and labour market flexibilisation, which are always touted as required for maintaining competitiveness. In fact, and in spite of some welfare cuts and reforms, the corporatist miracle countries, particularly the Scandinavian ones, still feature a number of elements of a social alternative to the dominant liberal prescription for employment growth.