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-CHAPTER I

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actual working of the systeis which resulted from these changes .

8 . There i s no _easy_.wąy _ou t

Our point will be that the degree of complexity and of uncertainty which characterizes our systeis has grown much morę and much faster than our ability to understand and govern thea. Therefore, there is not any easy way out froa the present problems; at least not one that does not imply a major change in the rules which are adopted, in the fashion of our collective life, in the culture and the skills which are used in the management of our systems.

We are still in a transitional phase. The unemployed are a ■inority, however great, but still a ainority; they do not starve, nor are they violent. The degree of social alarm associated with uneaployaent appears to be now decreasing, and to rank rather Iow in the scalę of political concerns. Most of the governaents seea to be convinced that the problem is being solved autornat i cally by demographic factors.

____Not_only dowe not shąre____these_optiaist ic_„yJ.ęw_s^_but_we

think...that.__theyąre,_dangerous_._ Even i f youth uneaployaent aight actually decrease,this would not iaply that we have understood and solved our problems. If, as we believe_f uneaployaent is not'the'    disease, but just the visible

symptom of it, and the true disease is the inability of aanaging and controlling our societies in a progressive way, the disease is bound to reaain and to eaerge, or to explode,somewhere else.

9 . Ą_.sample of. wrong_ąnswers

With this Report -as we said- we will accomplish three years of International research. Ninę countries within the European Comraunity and two outside (Sweden and Austria) have been considered. The financial constraints were such as to coapel us to utilize second hand research, but strong efforts have been aade to coapensate this drawback by carefully targeting national contri but ions, through intensive coordination and active and extensive exchanges of ideas a»ong the member8 of the International team.

We did not ai» at a comprehensive collection of labour policies experiences nor at a careful nicroecononic evaluation of them; we have chosen to maintaln an overall and systemie perspective, and to focus upon the social, institutional and cultural differences which constitute the background of youth unemployaent, and which thus make different not only what the occurrence of unemployment really aeans in different societies, but also help to explain how apparently similar proylsions are differently conceived and actually administered, and tend to produce different effects in different societies. If, in fact, purely occupational overall