ABSTRACT
The disorder of Europe's political economy continues at the time of writing and there are few signs of an end to that disorder. Disorder is also not a synonym for the disequilibrium described in the macroeconomic analyses of Keynes and others, even if the fallibility of markets and price-setting as well as other chronic asymmetries are clearly evident in the recent history of European and global capitalism. The pre-existing disparities in research and development intensity have been acknowledged by the EU, and their reduction was made one of the main targets of the Lisbon 2020 strategy. Prior to the establishment of the European Union in 1992, the conduct of competition policy was limited to a handful of Member States, notably Germany and the United Kingdom. A further pre-condition, implied by Arestis and Sawyer and Troost and Paul, is a recalibrated and harmonized system of taxation in Europe as a foundation for socioeconomic convergence and solidarity.
