Employment-Oriented Crisis Responses: Lessons from Argentina and the Republic of Korea

Abstract

The current financial crisis is one of the severest ever seen. As the crisis has evolved, economic forecasts have been downgraded. In many countries, the impact of the crisis is clearly visible through the increasing trend of unemployment and poverty, the rising number of households in debt, and the increasing number of people receiving unemployment insurance benefits and social assistance, and opting for early retirement.This brief looks at the different policy packages adopted by countries during past financial and economic crises in an attempt to draw lessons for the current crisis. Though it is important to note that the current crisis is unique both in its causes and global scope, its social impact will likely be similar to that of past crises. What emerges from various ILO reports and studies on past crises is that policy makers should act quickly and decisively to contain crises, use aggressive fiscal stimuli, and combine economic, financial and social policies into one single comprehensive policy package