Basic Facts about Wealth and Poverty

Rakesh Bhandari bhandari at phoenix.Princeton.EDU
Tue Jun 9 11:40:42 PDT 1998



> But I do not want to quibble over details. Instead, I'd like to put things
> in a different perspective:
> -- do we have a real (as opposed to neoliberal propaganda) reason to belive
> that US employment rates are higher than in Europe? In other words, what
> is it about the US that Europe does not have (other than the invisible hand
> of providence) and that causes higher employment rates. Why are the US
> firms hire more people than their European counterparts?

In a recent Cambridge Journal of Economics, Thomas Palley argues that as the European nations are more dependent on imports/exports, their central banks attempt to maintain the value of their currencies through even tighter monetary policy than in the US. The constrictive effects therefrom yield the higher unemployment. What came to my mind is how this greater European openness may offer an explanation for better European wages. That is, some of the lower paying branches of mfg, which are still located in the US to meet US demand (despite globalization), may in the case of Europe be located abroad. Comparing US to European wages may not be a comparison of wage levels in similar industrial structures. I raised this before in a discussion with Justin on another line. best, rakesh



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