The political limits of economic integration

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Further information about Intereconomics

Intereconomics publishes papers dealing with economic and social policy issues in or affecting Europe. The journal consists of the sections Editorial, Forum, Articles, and Letter from America.

The Editorial contains brief comments on current questions of economic policy.

In the Forum, several authors (researchers, politicians, representatives of trade unions and of employers associations, etc.) voice their opinions on one particular current economic policy problem.

The Articles deal with economic policy issues and trends. They are mostly written by economic researchers.

In the Letter from America, an economist from the US provides analysis of economic issues of transatlantic interest.

Intereconomics has an editorial process which allows it to quickly publish timely papers while they can still inform and influence policy makers. The editorial board of Intereconomics works in close cooperation with the editorial board of its sister publication Wirtschaftsdienst – Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftspolitik, which is published in German.Abstract:

Economic integration can be beneficial for all participating countries. But after a point, further gains from integration can be achieved only by trading off costs in one policy or sector against benefits in another. In this article we explore the relationship between these trade-offs and their political sustainability. We conjecture that a viable policy is politically sustainable when its benefits to citizens are visible to them. In the longer term, the trade-offs which are required to deepen integration become invisible, at which point reversing the process of integration appears to be in the national interest. We conclude that integration needs to be supported with domestic policies that mitigate the costs of integration borne by some groups or sectors.

• Primary Source

Intereconomics: Archive http://archive.intereconomics.eu/years/

SpringerLink: Intereconomics http://link.springer.com/journal/10272

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