Labour Market Measures in Germany 2008–13: The Crisis and Beyond

In 1999, Germany was depicted as the “sick man of Europe” by The Economist. The economic trajectory was characterized by low economic growth and job creation, increasing unemployment, and sluggish structural change. It was thus seen as “an example of Eurosclerosis, i.e. a regime with a considerable lack of flexibility“ (Walwei, 2014, p. 3). Ten years later, when German employment rates were high and remained surprisingly stable throughout the deepest recession, this attitude had changed to admiration for the “German labour market miracle” (Krugman, 2009).