ABSTRACT
Throughout the 1990s (and before the economic tribulations of 2001 and 2002) the American economy was a source of adulation and envy. The stock market demonstrated unprecedented growth, corporate profits surged to double digits as a percentage of national income, and unemployment fell to its lowest point in 24 years (Business Week, September 29, 1997, p.3546; Bernstein, September 1, 1997; Commission of the European Communities, 6/93, pp. 11, 40). These features of economic life prompted all sorts of congratulatory self-adulation in the business press; for example, Business Week (May 19, 1997) described it as the “wonder economy” These successes also prompted recommendations to languishing European economies regarding the adoption of flexible work regulations, social benefits systems more conducive to job-seeking, and tax incentives for corporate investment (oecd 1996a).
