The Germans insist that growth will come from tighter budgets and reformed labour laws.
Not in most European countries: strong labour laws and strongish unions make that awkward.
The unions are also protesting against price rise, inflation and alleged violation of labour laws.
One major test of the government's commitment to growth is the country's labour laws.
Few politicians dare touch rigid labour laws or giveaways, such as free electricity to farmers.
Strict labour laws, adopted after the 1979 Islamist revolution, are another deterrent to investment.
New labour laws and proposed racial quotas have made most firms cautious about hiring.
In January, China imposed one of the most far-reaching labour laws in the world.
Nobody now expects his government to tackle one big, unreformed obstacle to business: employment-destroying labour laws.
But good intentions are frustrated by erratic official policy, a severe cash shortage and strict labour laws.
Of course scarce land, red tape, poor education and infrastructure, and onerous labour laws partly offset this.
To preserve its new economic well being, Sweden should slash taxes and loosen its rigid labour laws.
Third is a change in India's labour laws, which act as a serious obstacle to labour-intensive manufacturing.
More importantly, she may also tweak rigid labour laws, though only cautiously, to help students get part-time jobs.
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Attracting private money, however, is complicated not just by the usual constraints poor infrastructure, restrictive labour laws and bureaucracy.
It is true that the pension entitlements, labour laws and taxes that handicap Brazil's economy have been left untouched.
Not only is its economy frail, but its labour laws, harking back to the 1970s and 1980s, ensure rigidity.
The structural reforms, like loosening labour laws, will take years to have impact.
British labour laws are, in any case, hardly onerous compared to continental ones.
Compared with these, the McKinsey consultants argue, poor roads and inflexible labour laws among the commonest complaints exert only a minor drag.
That many of the new jobs are formal (ie, legally registered) is despite, rather than because of, the labour laws.
And how will they get over the obstacles to making it work, such as trade unions and rigid labour laws?
South African labour laws make it hard to fire workers, which deters companies from hiring them in the first place.
Labour laws that help make Indian workers as costly to employers as much better-paid Chinese ones need to be scrapped.
But government remains largely unreformed, tax evasion is widespread, labour laws are rigid and some privatisations have created private monopolies.
One reason is Mexico's labour laws, and in particular the closed shop, whereby only one union is recognised in each company.
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We do not need changes in labour laws and policy to elicit sacrifice from organised labour, as some economists have suggested.
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Tough labour laws that have reduced working hours and banned outsourcing have strengthened workers' rights but also caused headaches for entrepreneurs.
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Among the blocked measures are urgent proposals to ease Mexico's sclerotic labour laws and allow private investment in the energy sector.
The nation's labour laws are arcane and in need of change (which could help workers even more than the aggregate economy).
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