Why Unemployment Has Increased

We have so far looked at the issue of whether governments can control unemployment and other macroeconomic variables. In passing we have at times mentioned the question of why so many developed countries have seen a large increase in unemployment levels since 1970, as compared to the levels during 1950–70 (see Table 7.1 for some details). In this chapter we consider directly some of the reasons given, and whether the causes themselves are independent of government actions. ¹