The paper analyzes the relationship between trade policy and environmental protection. National and global environmental issues are distinguished. In principle, there is no conflict between an institutional order for international trade and national environmental policy. Protectionism against...

The paper presents labor productivities in the member countries of Euroland. The result is that there is quite a divergence in labor productivities (per head) in the European Monetary Union. The Netherlands and Italy reach 85 percent of the West German level, Spain 62 and Portugal 35. This...

Die Schaffung eines einheitlichen Geldes in Europa und die Vergemeinschaftung der Geldpolitik bedeuten eine einschneidende institutionelle Änderung. In diesem Beitrag wird analysiert, was zu tun und was zu lassen ist, damit das historisch bedeutsame Vorhaben ein Erfolg wird. Zwölf...

The member states of the European Union have given up sovereignty in quite a number of policy areas and subjected themselves to joint decisionmaking at the European level. Policy instruments are no longer available nationally in many policy areas, including monetary policy, trade policy, the...

Europe’s labor is not competitiveness taking unemployment as the relevant indicator. The paper looks at other indicators such as job creation, productivity and unit labor costs and skills. It analyzes the reasons for the lack of competitiveness including a low degree of wage differentiation,...

Germany remains Europe's largest and most diversified source of new technology, but still lags in the fastest growing areas of today's high technology. After World War II, West-German technology policy sought to rebuild the institutions which had supported Germany's leadership in the high-tech...

With twelve new members the decision making in the European Union via intergovernmental cooperation will become ineffective. In order to avoid a Stagno-Europe the EU has a choice: Either it looks for the very essentials in the common institutional frame or the member states agree in ceding...

The stability pact is intended to bind the hands of national fiscal policy with respect to debt and thus protect the euro as a common currency. To what extent the value of money is stable depends on the solidity of the government’s finances. To weaken the pact will imply a loss of confidence...