Strasbourg, 07/10/14 (Agence Europe) - “The picture isn't rosy”, stated Secretary General of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Angel Gurria of Mexico at the start of his presentation of the OECD's 2013-2014 report to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on 1 October. “From May to September inclusive, we have only negative figures. We have lowered our growth forecasts for all the world's major economies, with the exceptions of India, which is doing a little better than the others, and China, where the situation is more or less stable.”
The crisis is, of course, to blame. It has slowed growth and led to “extremely high unemployment” to which Gurria particularly drew the attention of the PACE. “The OECD countries currently have 45 million unemployed,” he stated. “That's 12 million more than before the crisis. And globally, the figure is 202 million, though it's impossible to be fully accurate.” Speaking of the alarming rises in unemployment levels in countries such as Greece and Spain, Gurria expressed concern that “the danger of a lost generation remains very real”.
The increase in inequality is every bit as alarming: “Never has it been as marked as today,” Gurria stated, quoting figures. “In the countries of the OECD, the average income of the richest 10% is 9.5 times higher than that of the poorest 10%, when it was 6 times a generation ago. What's more, the situation is rapidly worsening.”
As a corollary and/or consequence of this new economic situation, “confidence in the institutions built over centuries is collapsing, whether it is parliament, political parties, executives, international institutions, banking systems, businesses or whatever. Only 40% of citizens still believe in them but this figure is falling all the time”.
This sombre message is further set against a backdrop of climate change and Gurria was unequivocal on this issue. “We are on a path that can only lead us to a collision with nature,” he said, “and we are using the crisis as a pretext for doing nothing, when we absolutely must deal with this problem.” The matter of the environment falls very much within the sphere of economic development, according to Gurria, also stressing the social dimension. “We haven't given it enough importance, it has to be given its rightful place because, if we don't, it will turn against us.” “But we must also work to consolidate budgets and reduce deficits,” he added, “and it is how we take on board sometimes contradictory demands that makes the current situation so difficult.”
What then is to be done? Capitalise on a slight improvement that Gurria sees for the end of 2015 and concentrate on the structural option, “all that is left to us, because we have no further room for manoeuvre in monetary terms - interest levels are at zero - or in terms of taxation”. In short, he stated, this means banking on education - “We are turning out millions of young graduates whose qualifications are no use to them”; innovation; competition; flexibility in the jobs and products markets; research and development, and more. “That is what will save us”, Gurria concluded, but only in the medium to long term. It will be up to politicians to bridge the gap between the short term and the results to follow, informing the people - who are perfectly able to understand - of what they are doing. “Forget the next elections, look further ahead”, he told the PACE. “That is how we will succeed.” In short, the OECD is calling for a revolution in political attitudes and practice. This has become crucial if we are to believe the picture painted by an organisation which, every year, comes to report to the PACE, “in order to take the pulse of society” and test its conclusions with parliamentarians from the 47 member states of the Council of Europe, joined, this year, by representatives from Japan, Mexico, Chile and the Republic of Korea, countries which also belong to the OECD (our translation throughout). (VL)