In this issue of the Review Sen argues that reducing the massive unemployment prevailing in many European countries must be given priority because it entails many costs that impinge on all of these goals. M ass unemployment constitutes a profound deprivation for the individuals concerned as well as an enormous social cost. Governments may think that providing a relatively high income floor and avoiding wide income disparities, as do most in Europe, is a largely sufficient remedy for unemployment. But economic inequality is a much broader concept than income inequality. There are fundamental ethical and moral considerations that are too frequently overlooked.
Unemployment is destructive of a person's identity and sense of self-worth.
The unemployed in Europe are perhaps less deprived than are Americans in terms of income, but when account is also taken of overall well-being and political participation there is no reason to be smug, Sen argues. Ethnic tensions and gender divisions are exacerbated by high unemployment levels. In addition, high unemployment fuels technological conservatism as workers resist innovations that may render them unemployed, thus inhibiting the investments that would raise rates of economic growth and improve well-being in general. Expanding job opportunities would reduce dependency ratios and help absorb not only unemployed youth but also the able-bodied elderly who have been forced to retire prematurely. By demonstrating the relatedness of many European social problems to massive unemployment and thus its hidden costs, he is in effect pointing the way toward resolution of many social ills simultaneously.