This paper challenges what is the standard account of UK unemployment, namely that the major swings in unemployment … over the past 25 years are due predominantly to movements in the underlying empirical "natural rate of unemployment" (NRU … unemployment are due, instead, to very prolonged after-effects of persistent (transitory but long-lasting) shocks. We argue that (a …

The analysis provides a new explanation for two widespread problems concerning European unemployment policy: the … disappointingly small effect of many past reform measures on unemployment, and the political difficulties in implementing more … implement broad-based reform strategies. Our analysis suggests that major unemployment policies are characterized by economic …