Austria's "Social Partnership"—A View from Within

Abstract

Time was when Austria was regarded as the sick child of Europe. Now it is considered almost a model child. Living standards have improved beyond all recognition and bear comparison with most West European countries. If they are lower than in West Germany and considerably lower than in Switzerland, the only occasion for surprise is that they should be considered anywhere near that league. For the past decade, Austria has managed to maintain a higher average growth rate (4.3 percent per annum) than the OECD average (3.2 percent), while holding prices well below the OECD average (6.1 percent compared with 9.7 percent per annum). Unemployment has been kept down to 2 percent. What is more, increasing affluence has been fairly evenly spread, both socially and regionally. By and large, and despite some discontent due to ever rising expectations that, since the seventies, have no longer been matched by the rate of progress, there is a feeling that "we never had it so good," "let's keep things much as they are."

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