It is widely held that the social-economic context of the US, characterised by labour market flexibility and deregulation of product and capital markets, lies at the basis of the innovative capacity displayed by the country's productive system in the 1990s, thus accounting for the growth...

Two interpretations have been advanced to account for persistent German current account surpluses that translate into equally persistent deficits of countries in the European periphery. According to the first, the German surplus is the expression of a 'virtuous' savings behaviour, to be extended...