Should Europe Adopt U.S. Economic Model?
The book’s final chapter compares the economic performance of the United Sates to that of 18 other rich, industrialized countries that, like the U.S., belong to the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). It examines the validity of the argument that Europe should copy key features of the U.S. economy, including weaker unions, lower minimum wages, less generous social benefits, and lower taxes. After analyzing detailed data on income inequalities, productivity, gender wage gaps, hours worked, poverty, mobility out of poverty, and job creation rates in the 19 OECD countries, the authors conclude with this cautious note of caution, in the book’s final sentence: “Those who look exclusively to the United States for solutions will miss a great deal.” In “State of Working America 2002-03” the co-authors, Lawrence Mishel, Jared Bernstein, and Heather Boushey, have provided an unrivaled source of information on how American working families are faring. Those w
