However sharp the clash between the industrial countries' notions of a world economic order and those of the developing countries, one point is gaining increasing importance for both camps: the fight against spreading protectionism. Rising import barriers in the North restrict the developing...

Is there a contradiction between international competitiveness and the central principles of the welfare state? The following article examines both the negative and the positive ways in which welfare statism can affect a country’s ability to compete on international markets.