Overview of the Economy and Economic Policy
by LOWITT, S & ALTMAN, M., 2008HRD Review 2008: Education, Employment and Skills. Cape Town: HSRC Press
Lowitt and Altman provide a high-level review of the economy’s performance and key policy development in the period 2001–2003. The focus is on economic performance and policy in relation to the demand for labour, and hence human resource development. From a performance perspective, the chapter shows that economic growth was resilient despite a global slowdown and dramatic WA fluctuations. From a policy perspective, it shows that despite policy deepening and some expansion of direct government policies, the growth model adopted in 1994 remains fundamentally unchanged. The conclusion of the chapter is that the high-skills, technology-intensive growth path supported by government will fail to address unemployment, unless human resource development initiatives can bridge the gap between the skills profile of the unemployed and the skills demanded by this economic growth path.
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