This article provides an overview of the impact of public sector pay and employment cutbacks in EU countries and discusses their justifi cation as part of austerity packages. It begins with the outcomes in the countries first hit by the economic crisis before discussing the impact of the crisis...

The international competitiveness of German industry, so greatly dependent on exports, is in large measure determined by the level of its labour costs in relation to those of its competitors in the world market, as its spokesmen never tire of pointing out. Dr. Salowski undertakes here an...