OECD Secretary General visit here and new reports on Israel are great news for Israel (see OECD Review of Israel’s Labour Market and Social Policies and an OECD Economic Survey of Israel). Not because we will likely make it into the OECD by year end, but because we have received a brutally honest in-depth and comparative assessment of Israel’s social and economic performance.
The highlights are already well-known and expected: Israel’s main problem is inclusiveness. While Israel’s economy has shown resilience during the global recession due to sound macro-economic policies, our long-term prospects for socioeconomic growth are grim. We are OECD leaders in inequality (~20% poverty) due to quality of education system and low labor force participation (40% of working age people don’t work, compared to OECD avg. of 30%). The core of the challenge is among Haredim and Arabs. We knew it. Now others do too.
The ISRAEL 15 Vision community should be happy. Our agenda has three pillars: rapid growth, inclusiveness and sustainability. We got OECD green light on the first, red light on the second and silence on the third (that deserves a separate post)
For more information visit: Official visit of the Secretary-General to Israel; Israel country profile.
Tags: ISRAEL 15 Vision
