On the face of it, the financial and economic crisis that has engulfed Europe has left remarkably few traces on Austria, one of the continent’s most prosperous countries.
Unemployment, though up, is still well below the European Union average; house prices have barely weakened and consumer demand remains robust, in spite of a general feeling of unease. Even Austria’s powerful banks appear to have weathered the storm in central and eastern Europe, where they have built up market leadership over the past decade.
