And Alesina, Ardagna and Galasso show how the same discipline has pushed governments to carry out significant reforms in the markets for products and services. The findings point to a substantial positive contribution of the euro in terms of productivity. Another case in point is the labor market.
Thanks to the reforms of the last ten years, it has been possible to overcome the old image of an immobile European labour market – reflected in high rates of unemployment and a low labour force participation rate – for which the term “Eurosclerosis” was coined.