El paro, el deterioro ambiental y el sector público: tres retos de fin de siglo

This article approaches three socially relevant problems: unemployment, the deterioration of the environment and the performance of the public sector. With reference to the first topic, it is concluded that unemployment is a far more complex phenomenon than initially envisaged, which implies that its rectification demands a threefold bearing. Politically very complex supply policies are not the only measures that need to be put into practice; it is also essential to design demand policies in line with the situation. It is likewise indispensable to admit that many of the measures proposed will hardly survive in the political arena unless endorsed by a social contract that redistributes social earnings and which avoids the existence of net losers. In the environmental topic it is concluded that it is necessary to approach a revolution in accounting, allowing for a state of affairs in which signals emitted by prices take into account the real values of resources and natural assets. On approaching the question of public sector efficiency, it is proposed to fulfil a series of principles that demand professionalization of public managers and incorporation of market discipline to the administration.