Indeed, thanks to technological advancements, economic activity becomes increasingly knowledge-based and jobs shift from low to high-skilled workers. However, investment in human capital development in Europe remains insufficient, and a strong focus should be put on improving education and training systems. Europe also suffers from insufficient quantitative and qualitative efforts as regards investment in research and development (R&D).
Bordo and Jeanne (2002) study 15 advanced economies – Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, the UK and the US – over the period 1970–2002. They identified 20 episodes of housing booms, of which 11 were followed by a bust. Of these 11 boom-bust cycles, 6 experienced banking crises.