Monthly Report No. 11/2018

Announcement New wiiw Handbook of Statistics Graph of the month Immigration into the EU Top five destination countries, 2008-2017 Opinion corner Global compact for migration ‘Eppur si muove’ by Isilda Mara The Luddite rebellion Past and present by Roman Stöllinger In the early 19th century textile workers in the English midlands, known as ‘Luddites’, turned violent in response to the introduction of new, labour-saving machines. As the world is entering the Digital Era, neo-Luddite movements emerge which should also be seen as a consequence of the uncertainties caused by fast and potentially disruptive technologies. What might be different this time is that the new technologies create competition for humans in their core competencies, with the possibility of technological unemployment as predicted by Keynes. Internet avant la lettre The Telegraph Revolution and its impact on economic growth in 1870‑1913 by Mario Holzner and Stefan Jestl E-mail was not the first means of instant electronic communication over a long distance the first digital technology was telegraphy. We find that higher early use of telegraphy was related to substantially higher economic growth in Europe at the turn of the twentieth century. These findings may be interesting in the context of the currently ongoing Digital Revolution. Can economic factors explain why Central Europe became so good at football in the 1930s? by Richard Grieveson Austria and Hungary started playing football in the early 1900s, and by the 1920s and 1930s were among the best teams in the world. This progress relied on many factors, but industrialisation, income convergence with wealthier parts of Western Europe, integration into European knowledge networks, a willingness to accept new ideas, and urbanisation all seem to have played a role. Statistical Annex Monthly and quarterly statistics for Central, East and Southeast Europe