Job-loss panic rises in Western Europe

According to the following article , the job drain to Eastern Europe, Asia or Africa is faced by many Western European nations – but the countries cannot agree on a solution. The job drain has spurred a government drive to make France more competitive, fueling a split in the opposition Socialist Party and coloring French perceptions about new European Union members in the east, where labor is cheaper. Economists say panic over job losses is not backed by evidence and that proposed remedies miss the point.“To focus purely on offshoring is the wrong way of looking at the situation – it hides the real problems, which are internal,” Fontagne, director of the Paris-based CEPII think-tank and joint author of a report on outsourcing, said. “The question is not how many jobs we’ve lost because of offshoring or competition from developing countries, but rather why we’re not creating enough jobs to replace them.” Fontagne believes France can stem its industrial decline only by innovating, boosting investment and making it easier to hire and fire.