Julia Berman — Youth Unemployment Is The Next Global Crisis

The next global financial crisis has already started, in the form of nearly 75 million unemployed young people around the world.

If this mass of jobless youth doesn't find work, the consequences will be dramatic, a group of politicians and economists at the Concordia Summit here Friday warned -- from increased violence in the Middle East to ever-higher rates of income inequality in the United States to increased political unrest in Europe.

"Youth unemployment is dramatic," said José María Aznar, the former prime minister of Spain, where the jobless rate for those aged 15 to 24 is 56 percent. "It's jeopardizing the opportunities for future prosperity and growth."

The youth unemployment rate hit 65 percent in Greece earlier this year and 39 percent in Egypt last year, when the country was still grappling with the fallout from the Arab Spring and just before a new bout of violent, political strife.

By comparison, unemployment for those aged 20 to 24 in the United States is low -- but still a whopping 36 percent.

This youth unemployment crisis is "a direct result" of the global economic downturn, political scientist and best-selling author Ian Bremmer said in an interview at the conference.

The Huffington Post
Youth Unemployment Is The Next Global Crisis
Julia Berman