For reasons that are somewhat mysterious, the benefits of international trade come
less easily than the effects of trade within a country. Perhaps it has something to do with
differences across nations in legal systems, or with domestically oriented networks of
communications and transportation. Residents of every country find it far easier to trade
with their fellow citizens than with non-residents, even when there are no gaps of
geography, language, currencies or trade policy. In this sense, globalization still has
much further to go than most people think. The implication, again, is that countries that
are large and thereby relatively self-sufficient are at an advantage. Another implication
is that European trade and growth will benefit from the EU and EMU, in the long run, but
that full political union, were it practical, would add much more.