ABSTRACT
The prospective, general and permanent nature of constitutional rules acts as an incentive for individuals to concentrate on their long-term common interests rather than on the short-term distributional implications of the rules which, in case of general long-term rules, are more uncertain and more difficult to identify. General constitutional rules induce people to accept generally acceptable criteria of equal treatment, due process and fairness. The international trade and monetary rules are designed not only to prevent and resolve conflicts among trading nations. They can also serve as a mast against which governments can tie their hands so as to escape the siren-like pressure groups within their countries. In international state practice and in the literature on public international law, the advantages of liberal international trade rules are often seen only in the rights which the rules grant to governments vis-a-vis other governments.
