Economics in Europe

Abstract

Note by the editors The paper below by Richard Portes is published at our initiative. It makes a number of critical points about economics in Europe, which can obviously be argued about and have in fact been the object of lively debate among readers of the initial report. In an age when economic science thinks it important to be empirical and quantitative, a merit of the paper is surely its effort to support by numbers and facts the assertions that are made. We think that in bringing Richard Portes's arguments before a broader audience, the Review is making a contribution to the ongoing debate about where Europe's economics stands, and about how fruitful is our discipline's contribution to economic science and to society. The Review is willing to publish other papers on this topic, using the rule of editorial discretion that was applied to the present paper, to the extent that they are similarly succinct and tightly reasoned. © 1987, Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. (North-Holland). All rights reserved.