Where the financial crisis has hit hardest

OF THE many gloomy indicators generated by the financial crisis in the rich world, the sharp rise in youth unemployment is perhaps the most dispiriting. Countries that entered the crisis with this problem already entrenched, such as Spain, have fared the worst. Their labour markets tend to be characterised by privileged cliques of workers with high levels of job protection, and indignados who are outside the system, banging on the window in the hope of being let in. But countries with more liberalised labour markets, such as Ireland, have done badly too. There the hope is that more flexible employment laws will prove their worth and that the spike in youth unemployment will be temporary. Ensuring this happens is as great a challenge for these governments as protecting their tottering banks and slashing their budget deficits.