TOWARDS FLEXIBILITY WITH A HUMAN FACE

Due to the ageing of advanced societies and international instability, a return to strong and lasting growth seems unlikely. The author is i n favour of ordered liberalization: as much as market as possible, as much as public regulation as necessary. He is for a true labour market and greater solidarity in society. For a given growth rate, the creat ion of employment depends on the cost of labour and the incentive to w ork. In this view, all general and uniform decisions regarding work ti me have destructive effects on production and employment. Last but not least, the role and impact of globalization are overestimated. The di versity of societies still remains, thus we must adopt a global vision for 1001 local initiatives. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd