Q: “According to some experts it went wrong precisely since the economic reforms did not go far enough.” A: “Nonsense. The ruin would only have been greater. No, precisely the reform of the state should have been the main target. Some people actually said that ten years ago, but they were not listened to. They were considered to be _softies_, since they wanted to maintain parts of the communist system. You currently see economists of the Worldbank and IMF slowly change their minds too.” [17] What is crucial is that the methods, by which such dissenting ‘softies’ were silenced, were unscientific. Crucial policy preparations were left to the fric and fray of politics and bureaucrats, unworthy of a decent democracy. There is Robert Barro’s research in the relationship between democracy and growth. An early report is in Barro (1996) [18] but he has been working on it since. His results suggest that it first takes a certain level of income before democracy has a chance. This reminds one of the willingness of Westerners to accept dictatorships in developing countries as long as economic welfare is increasing. Four comments can be made: The present discussion is targetted at existing democracies, and Barro’s finding then is only relevant as a warning of what could happen if the risk of, say, an eco-crisis would materialise. Secondly, Barro seems to imply that current democracies are finished, and that there is no next stage. But we can advance. Thirdly, once the concept of an Economic Supreme Court is clear, then one could imagine that a dictatorship on the way to a democracy (notably China) could first install such a Court - and the rule of law - before it moves towards elections. Finally, we should read Sen (1999a) as an answer to the Barro analysis, since it could rather be that democracy futhers development and growth. Above uses plain human survival to judge on the economic record, it focusses on war, humantarian disasters, overpopulation, diseases, environmental deterioration. It is sobering to regard the more standard economic outcome. Table 1 reviews the unemployment in the European Union for 2003, reassembling the data after the enlargement of May 1 2004. Table 1. Unemployment in the European Union in 2003 Eurostat [19] EU (after enlargment) EU 15 Total population 451 million 378 million Unemployed 19.0 million 14.2 million Idem, % labour force (age 15+) % % % 9.1 % 8.1 % Participation [20] 72.0 % 72.4 %