Attempts to rejuvenate Europe's workforce
As debate rages over the merits of Europe "importing" immigrant labour, one thing looks inevitable -- the homegrown population is becoming too small and too old to maintain the living standards of the last 50 years.
Attempts to rejuvenate Europe's workforce took a fresh twist this week with news the European Commission would propose a pan-European system of U.S.-style green cards to lure youthful migrants with good education, skills and economic potential. The idea itself is controversial, but it also illustrates a point some find hard to swallow. The glory days of the baby boom that followed World War Two are over and most probably Europe's economic prowess of those post-war decades too. "We have enjoyed this period of historically unprecedented economic growth," says David Coleman, professor of demography at Britain's Oxford University. "We're now quite rich. We're going to continue to get richer, but not at the same rate as before."
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