ABSTRACT
We are all familiar with Robert Solow’s observation from 1987 that we can ‘see computers everywhere but in productivity statistics’. This statement seems to be especially true for the EU countries. The economic growth rate has been modest in comparison both with that of earlier periods and with that of the US during the 1990s. In many countries the unemployment rate lies at a two-digit level and seems to be permanent at these high levels. The unemployment rate does not change much even during the advantageous phases of the business cycle, and this has led many observers to talk about a ‘jobless growth’.
