A recent conference organised by the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) and the European Federation of Public Services Unions (EPSU) examined how public services – which constitute 26% of the European Union’s GDP and 30% of its workforce - play a fundamental role in promoting well-being:
‘Though this contribution is typically not measured by GDP, it includes an equalising effect on income and well-being, often superior provision of healthcare, and the provision in times of crisis of both economic stimulus and crucial services (housing, healthcare, education):
http://www.etui.org/content/download/7389/67178/file/12+From+%28Un%29Economic+Growth+WEB+version.pdf
In the report of the conference Jan Willem Goudriaan, Deputy Secretary General of EPSU makes a crucial point about the rise in corporate power that is accompanying deregulation and privatisation policies at the core of austerity measures: “Austerity is not only an ideological agenda but a corporate agenda with companies seeking to remove the shackles curbing their business. And we see a return to business as usual for most of the private sector corporations”.
