"We're just at the start of a recession. Some of the government's decisions, which we do not yet feel, will increase unemployment," said Histadrut chairman Ofer Eini in an interview with "Globes" editor-in-chief Hagai Golan on the Globes TV "Face to Face" program.
"Globes": What about Minister of Finance Yuval Steinitz and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who say that the numbers indicating an increase in the number of layoffs are much lower, and that, in general, the situation is not too bad. Do you believe them?
Eini: "The finance minister is always optimistic, and I do not denigrate that characteristic. But, as I said, we're just at the start of a recession. The government has not found the balance between a free market and free economy and what it should do to create jobs for its citizens. I think that there are many ways to lower prices on one hand, without forcing the firing of employees on the other, such as price controls."
What should be done to prevent a worsening of the unemployment rate.
"It's possible to draw up a plan that says, 'Let us lower prices' while at the same time draw up a plan that examines how these lower prices won't worsen the unemployment rate, but the opposite, improves it. There is no such plan. There is no such dialogue. The government pulls things out of its hat. There was a protest, and it pulled something out. Now there is a budget deficit - and it pulls something out. That's not the way to work."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 28, 2012
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