Rebalancing the social contract As political institutions are facing tough choices now because of the unsustainable policies of the past, the question of the distribution of the adjustment burden has become key. It implies  5  International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook, Chapter 1, October 2012.
BIS central bankers’ speeches  3  a redefinition of the social contract both at national level and at European level. What is at stake is nothing less than the sustainability of the European social market economy. Within countries The social contract first needs to be rebalanced within each country along two dimensions: between generations and within generations.