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Domestic strengths and policy actions helped Canada overcome an externally driven recession The recession in Canada was mainly externally driven, the result of a high degree of openness, in particular [...]

Canada benefited from many strengths such as a less-leveraged financial sector, few subprime mortgages and sound corporate balance sheets as it weathered the global economic crisis of 2007-09. Actions by [...]

Although Canada remains in an advantageous fiscal position relative to many other OECD countries as the global economy recovers from the 2008/09 recession, the deterioration in the country's public finances [...]

Canada's public health-care system (Medicare) offers top-notch care for legislatively-defined essential services, without charge, to all residents. Treatment quality and aggregate health outcomes are good, and the population values in [...]

Since the early 2000s, Portugal has seen its convergence process towards more developed OECD economies come to a halt. Slow trend growth has mostly reflected the imbalances of the Portuguese [...]

The process of fiscal consolidation and the need to step up the poor long term economic performance provide an opportunity to implement tax measures to improve efficiency and rebalance the [...]

Portugal saw a stagnation of its convergence process over the 2000s and the great recession is likely to hold back potential growth over the coming years. Weak productivity gains across [...]

Turkey is recovering from its most severe recession in several decades. The massive contraction in GDP is largely explained by the unprecedented collapse in foreign demand, which was aggravated in [...]

Turkey, like other fast-growing emerging countries, has significantly improved its terms of integration with the global capital market before as well as after the international crisis. Emerging markets' risk premia [...]

In the 2000s, Turkey has enjoyed rapid catching-up thanks to improving macroeconomic framework, increasing openness to trade and foreign investment and the great entrepreneurial spirit of Turkish businessmen. This was [...]

1. Rebalancing the economy after the crisis The recovery from the worst peacetime recession is underway The economic recovery in the United States from arguably the most significant recession since [...]

At its most basic level the US recession was brought on by housing and real estate-related financial problems. Steps that can be taken to strengthen the economy and reduce the [...]

The United States faces challenging budgetary prospects, as do most other OECD countries. The federal budget deficit widened considerably during the recession, reaching about 10% of GDP in both 2009 [...]

The consensus view of scientists is that the build-up of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere is causing global warming. To reduce the probability of severe climate-change impacts and costs [...]

The economy contracted sharply during the crisis but began to recover slowly from mid-2009. Unemployment rose by less than might have been expected, partly as the labour market was more [...]

The Dutch occupational pension system has been successful in securing high asset accumulation to fund generous pension promises. However, for the second time in this decade the pension system has [...]

Congestion has become a burden for the Dutch economy. Commuters and businesses are suffering from the time lost in traffic and the unreliability of travel time. Expanding infrastructure can potentially [...]

The housing market figures among the main determinants of labour mobility, as households seldom make employment and housing decisions independently of each other. This interdependence is likely to strengthen as [...]

Luxembourg has experienced a severe recession as the result of the international financial crisis. Output contracted sharply and unemployment has risen. Luxembourg's economy was heavily exposed to the downturn in [...]

Luxembourg has achieved rapid and sustained growth over the past 25 years and living standards are the highest in the OECD. However, following the crisis, it now faces the possibility [...]

Rapid economic growth over the past two decades has substantially increased employment in Luxembourg, which bas largely been met by in-flows of cross-border workers and, to a lesser extent, immigration. [...]

Over past decades, Luxembourg has emerged as a major international financial centre. This has been crucial to the development of its economy and the financial sector has come to play [...]

BASIC STATISTICS OF FINLAND (2008) THE LAND Area (1000 [km.sup.2]) 309.9 Major cities 576.6 (thousand inhabitants): Of which: Helsinki 241.6 Agricultural 22.6 Espoo 209.6 Forests 262.6 Tampere 195.4 Lakes 34.5 [...]

Finland was among the most affected OECD countries during the crisis as demand for its mainly capital-goods intensive exports collapsed. The financial sector weathered the shock well, but credit contracted, [...]

The costs of the recession and ageing are a challenge to fiscal sustainability. The estimated fiscal sustainability gap has increased from 3 to 8% of GDP due to a sizeable [...]

Maintaining high participation and employment in the face of the current recession and a rapidly ageing population are major challenges for policy makers. The recession of the early 1990s showed [...]

Income distribution in Finland remains among the most equitable in the OECD, although, as in a number of other countries, disparities have widened considerably over the past decade. While the [...]

After a sharp fall during the recession, real GDP growth has picked up, but the recovery is expected to be relatively slow. The global crisis has hit the economy mainly [...]

Unemployment has fallen significantly prior to the crisis, not least due to past labour market reforms, and has remained surprisingly stable during this recession--both relative to past experience and vis-a-vis [...]

Past consolidation has allowed the automatic stabilisers operate fully during the crisis. Further fiscal easing in late 2008 and early 2009 contributed to a markedly widening fiscal deficit in 2010. [...]

The German banking system came under pressure during the financial crisis, not least due to its significant exposure to toxic assets which originated in the US. In the short run, [...]

The potential growth rate of the economy has been low for a long time and the crisis has had a further adverse impact. The meagre growth performance mainly reflects low [...]

The Norwegian economy has been particularly resilient during the financial crisis with a relatively shallow recession and moderate increase in unemployment. As Norway moves into what is projected to be [...]

Despite substantial income from petroleum wealth, Norway is nevertheless confronted with fiscal challenges in the long term. The number of older persons (aged 67 and above) is projected to almost [...]

Sustainable development is a key theme in policy making in Norway. Although it owes a considerable part of its wealth to the carbon-based economy, Norway gives priority to the objectives [...]

As in most OECD countries, the global financial crisis pushed the Swiss economy into recession. However, despite the weight of financial intermediation in economic activity and significant losses of the [...]

Decisive action by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) since the outbreak of the crisis has supported financial stability and economic activity. A distinct monetary framework that directly targets the three-month [...]

The Swiss financial system has weathered the international financial crisis despite the severe losses of its two largest banks and a considerable loss of one of its insurance companies, in [...]

Renting accommodation in Switzerland is considerably more expensive than in other OECD countries with high per capita income, especially for households on modest incomes. High costs in the construction industry, [...]

Almost all workers are educated at least to the upper secondary level and vocational education contributes to one of the most successful transition performances of youth to employment in the [...]

The Danish economy has been hit by the global economic crisis and is going through a deep and protracted recession. Fortunately, strong policy frameworks mean that Denmark is well placed [...]

Labour productivity decelerated markedly over the 1990s and into the current decade. One reason is the slowdown in capital deepening related to the trend increase in employment. Greater inclusion in [...]

Human capital is a major determinant of growth in productivity and national incomes. Adopting new technologies requires a skilled workforce with capacity to adjust. In this regard, Denmark is in [...]

Ireland is in severe recession, following several years of high but ultimately unsustainable growth and rising imbalances. A fast expansion of bank credit encouraged a boom in construction activity and [...]

The fiscal consolidation challenge for Ireland is severe, the underlying budget balance having moved abruptly from surplus to a large deficit. Consolidation has already begun to repair the deterioration in [...]

The Irish labour market is undergoing a severe adjustment following the sharp fall in output, which has been concentrated on labour-intensive sectors. This has led to a large reduction in [...]

Living standards in Ireland will remain high, despite the severe contraction, but stronger structural policies would encourage sustainable long-run growth. Hard times can be a good time to make overdue [...]

The global financial and economic crisis has struck Iceland with extreme force. Iceland's three main banks, accounting for almost all of the banking system, failed in October 2008. They were [...]

Monetary and fiscal policies face huge challenges: the banking sector has collapsed; the economy is in the midst of a deep recession; the exchange rate has plunged; capital flows have [...]

Italy is now in the midst of a deep recession, as are many other countries, and there is great uncertainty about the timing and strength of the recovery. The banking [...]