The merger of the two German states brings together countries with divergent economic systems, different trade orientations and a rift in terms of wealth. Transforming the East German system into a social market economy raises enormous internal and external adjustment problems in a period in...

The European Common Market has opened up a new chapter in the economic life of the Hanseatic City. Initial reservations and scepticism have long ago given way to the realisation that Hamburg’s foreign trade has profited from the dynamic effects of integration.