On the European scenario, in recent years we have witnessed a frantic search for the viable way out of the economic and financial crisis by the institutions of the European Union and the governments of the individual member countries. The political and economic agenda, in some countries in particular, is dominated by activities aimed at restructuring public budgets, with measures necessary for compliance with the community parameters of the deficit and public debt, but which involve enormous sacrifices for the states and their citizens, negatively impacting growth and employment.
On these pages we have already dealt with the topic of priorities for the growth of Europe (Letter Club 46, "The relaunch of the internal market for the growth of the European Union"), affirming the importance of focusing on improving the determinants of competitiveness in the medium to long term. In this Letter however, starting from the analysis of the economic results obtained by individual member countries in the last decade, we will focus on some successful cases in terms of growth and development, in order to highlight those strategies and policies that have proved to be "winning", which can represent a source of inspiration if put together at European level.
A research conducted by The European House – Ambrosetti and presented during the latest edition of the Forum "The scenario of today and tomorrow for competitive strategies" at Villa d'Este in Cernobbio showed that within the European Union there are examples of virtuous countries that have been able to achieve GDP growth rates well above the average and even higher than the United States, both over the last 10 years and during the most recent years of crisis.
Only four countries were able to achieve a positive performance during both time horizons: Poland, Sweden, Austria and Slovakia. For comparison, the United States was also included in the analysis. In addition to GDP trends, the study focused on a dozen economic and financial indicators relating to the labor market, public budgets, international openness, investment attractiveness, innovation, entrepreneurship, etc., always observed on a ten-year basis and in the last five years of crisis.
The four "growth champions" countries identified above frequently ranked among the best in Europe, sometimes evenly on certain indicators, sometimes each on specific parameters. This suggests that their economic growth performance measured by GDP is linked both to some elements in common and to specific strategic choices they have adopted, which have favored various competitiveness factors, also according to the structural characteristics of each. In other words, there seem to be several ways to regain growth.
Attachments: Ambrosetti November 2013.pdf
