This paper provides a number of complementary estimates of potential output and the output gap—variables that cannot be observed directly. After a substantial increase in the tax wedge in the 1970s and the 1980s, which has been widely thought to have been partly responsible for the sharp rise...

Real GDP growth is expected to slow to 2.6 percent in 2001, following four consecutive years of strong economic growth. A number of structural labor market measures have also been introduced, including an employment program for youth, reforms to encourage employment among older people, and...