The Financial Crisis of 2008 has forced countries around the globe to reevaluate their monetary and fiscal strategies for stimulating growth within their respective economies. The economic connectivity among countries has been magnified by the recent financial crisis. However, with nations at different stages in their development, the economic…

"Economic competitiveness" is at the top of national, regional and global political and economic agendas. Several countries in all regions of the world have established policies and institutions devoted to economic competitiveness, including in developing and transition countries. This leads to the question of how to define national economic…

A central issue in economics is explaining the persistent and growing inequalities between nations in income and wealth. Traditional western economic thought has emphasized the importance of free trade to economic development, but differential access to technical knowledge has left less developed nations at a disadvantage. (IS)

Reviews Sweden's national development strategy that strives for full employment. Discusses the implications of job training in internal labor markets for the Rehn-Meidner model of economic stabilization. (SK)

The taxonomic distance from an "ideal country" is used as a composite index of relative development levels of 50 countries; measuring economic, mass media, and high-level manpower potentials, and showing acceleration of rate of increases, and underlying shifts in rank positions in years 1955, 1960, and 1965. (Author/ND)

Offered here is a narrative survey of international approaches to training for social welfare. For the purposes of the survey, social welfare tasks have been defined as those which involve the improvement of social functioning and social relationships in meeting social needs at individual, group, or community levels. The study also encompasses…

A study of three Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) traced development of the skills element of their RES [Regional Economic Strategy] and their progress toward an action plan for skills to implement their strategic objectives. The process involved creating a forum on skills; producing a consultation draft skills strategy; and producing a final…

Outlines trends and challenges in job skills development, theoretical links between human capital and economic performance, methodological and measurement problems in analyzing return on investment. Presents case studies of approaches in France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, with public policy implications. (SK)

E-learning has become a significant aspect of training and education in the worldwide information economy as an attempt to create and facilitate a competent global work force. "Cases on Successful E-Learning Practices in the Developed and Developing World: Methods for the Global Information Economy" provides eclectic accounts of case…

The framework of an aggregate production function shows that growth of human capital is both a condition and a consequence of economic growth. The concurrent growth and diffusion of human capital, involving production of new knowledge, appears necessary to ensure sustained economic development worldwide. (TE)

This article examines where the American economy is heading, where it should be heading, and what education can contribute. It recommends that the country increase the value of labor, involving teaching basic numeracy, literacy, and collaborative skills, and encouraging young people to take responsibility for their own learning. (SM)

This document contains papers presented at a seminar to explore how the U.S. economy has created 30 million jobs since the early 1970s, while most European countries have barely managed to keep their labor force employed. The following papers are included: "Job Creation in the United States: Some Facts and Figures" (Sibille); "Unanswered…

Contends that it is widely believed that cheap labor in poor countries attracts foreign investors. Asserts that historical evidence indicates that past patterns of direct foreign investment in poor countries are inconsistent with the cheap-labor argument. Includes two figures and one table. (CFR)

Human capital--the productive capacity that is embedded in people--is one of the most important contributors to the growth in nations' output and standard of living. Globalisation and technological change have increased the importance of human capital in recent years, to the point that there are now only two options to sustain high profits and…

This publication contains monographs on vocational training and regional development for six regions of the European Communities. The monograph on Lorraine (France) by Gerard Calais describes basic training structures, redeployment policies, requalification of job seekers, and coordination of training efforts. Profiles of development technicians…