Issues of productivity and demographics hamper European economy

The global economy has been suffering from uneven growth in recent years, yet it is extremely striking how weak Europe remains relative to the US, China and other Asian economies. This is largely due to the fact that Europe is behind on the productivity front as well as the unfavorable demographic dynamics, noted the General Director of the Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research (IOBE), Nikos Vettas on Monday.

Speaking at the 15th Limassol Economic Forum, Vettas underlined the enormous challenges facing the European economy. As he pointed out, one of the most important "drivers" of productivity is the quality of institutions and based on this factor, Europe should be a global leader.

Nevertheless this continent has very weak and inefficient links between its education system and business, compared to the US, while it has been very slow to integrate new...