Editorial Board
Europe’s Youth Can’t Work Without Growth
This article is for subscribers only.
Europe says it’s getting serious about reducing an epidemic of youth unemployment, an effort as laudable as it is overdue. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble wasn’t exaggerating this week when he called the phenomenon a catastrophe for the European Union.
As of March, 59 percent of Greeks, 56 percent of Spaniards, and 38 percent of Italians and Portuguese ages 16-24 were unemployed, levels that if allowed to fester will permanently harm the generation that’s supposed to produce growth for an aging continent. The anger caused could eventually tear the EU and its currency apart.