The Invisible Hand Economic Thought Yesterday and Today

The economies of the European Union are today highly integrated. Constitutive part of this high degree of integration is the euro which unites most of the Member Stateswithintheeuro-zone. Inordertoensureprosperityandstabilityofthis Union in the spirit of the European Stability and Growth Pact, economic policies in both the Union and its Member States need to be monitored and co-ordinated appropriately. This applies in particular also because of the enlargement process which adds a further dimension to the continuous challenge of having to deal with different economic policy concepts and traditions in our Union. Understandingtheeconomicandsocio-politicaldebatesintheindividualM- ber States of the Union and elsewhere requires a solid knowledge not only of the economic but also of the social and historical background of these debates. In economics, more than in the natural sciences, human norms and conflicts play a central role in addition to logical relationships and empirical findings. Therefore, looking only at economic formulae and empirical facts will not be enough. Most economic textbooks, especially from the Anglo-Saxon area, tend to c- centrate more on the technically correct and often model-based presentation of their subject-matter than on its socio-political background. However, in view of the significance of economic reality for every citizen in Europe, it is also important to reach those who have not obtained a university degree in economics.