§ Mr. Watkinsonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many Western European countries use full employment models to assist in the making of budget decisions.
§ Mr. Denzil DaviesI understand that the Danish Government have used a full employment budget balance on an experimental basis. Otherwise I know that the Netherlands Government use a related concept—the structural budget margin—in their annual Budget Memorandum. In West Germany a further related concept —the cyclically neutral budget—is used by the Council of Economic Experts, but not by the Federal Government. I am not aware of other Western European countries which use full employment budget models.