Employment protection in OECD countries (graph)

from David Ruccio

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development compiles an index from 21 items covering three different aspects of employment protection: individual dismissal of workers with regular contracts, additional costs for collective dismissals, regulation of temporary contracts.

Not surprisingly, the United States has the lowest ranking on the list. That explains the sharp rise in U.S. unemployment during the Second Great Depression. Notice, also, that while Greece and Spain are above the OECD average—and are being forced to create “more flexible” labor markets—Germany, too, has above-average employment protection.