| Abstrakt: |
The long period of economic development from the end of World War II until the 1973 oil crisis, left the three decades that followed dependent not only on new technological development but also on the reconstruction of what had been destroyed. Political factors relating to world-wide liberalisation, international exchange and commerce also played a role. Until the 1970s, the Keynesian move (Trinidad, 2005) helped to push forward social welfare security systems, the most important of which were education, health, housing, and social policies. This happened in a scenario of almost full employment, where people had the purchasing power to become consumers. Across Europe, this model was applied in different ways according to the dominant political tendencies of each country. Scandinavian countries (e.g., the Swedish model) of social welfare however (Greve, 1996), offered a contrast with Italy or Spain. For example, the economic and political situation in southern European countries was not so optimal for investment in welfare, but just on pushing forward. But the move was also the result of a general political climate that favoured State supervision of market and production issues, and revealed a lack of confidence in free capitalism (Moreno, 2003). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
