"Since the onset of the 2008 financial crisis, a further 8 million Europeans have become unemployed. And prolonged recession entails other risks examined here, in terms of labour market exclusion, the economic costs of long-term unemployment,and the extent to which enterprises' job-creating investment potential may become severely constrained. Against this background, the author critically reviews the European policy response with particular attention to the shift to fiscal consolidation since mid-2010 and its long-term implications for Europe's economies, labour markets and societies. Introducing the studies featured in this Special Issue, he draws on their empirical findings to discuss policy options for a reversal of current trends."

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