ABSTRACT
This chapter explores sketch the development of the Austrian economy and places in the context of the new conditions that prevailed since the Second World War. It describes how certain principles of economic policy evolved during those decades, securing a rapidly growing prosperity. Austria was carved up into four zones, each of which was occupied by one of the great powers, with the Soviet zone experiencing an economic development quite different from that of the rest of the country, due to reparation claims and general business insecurity. The biggest economic impact of European Union membership in the medium term is expected in the sheltered sector, in the form of stepped-up competition. Restructuring was necessary because, in the early 1980s, Austrian competitiveness had declined and economic growth rates fallen below the average of OECD-Europe, despite unemployment rates that were substancially lower.
