Chapter 6: Economic nationalism

This chapter provides an in-depth analysis of the phenomenon of economic nationalism, as practiced by many governments in the EU, for example in the form of opposition to cross-border mergers, promotion of national champions and bailing out of domestic firms. Even though such measures usually are very inefficient ways of achieving national objectives, they still have been employed. The chapter finds public ownership – both full and partial – of firms to be a key factor behind harmful nationalistic interventions in the economy. The best way to deal with economic nationalism would be to severely restrict the degree of public ownership. Coordinated deregulation across the EU may also be a necessary prerequisite for countries to deregulate sufficiently.