Stages of economic integration around the World (each country colored according to the most integrated multilateral agreement that it participates in):
Historic trading blocs include the Hanseatic League, a Northern European economic alliance between the 12th and 17th centuries, and the German Customs Union, formed on the basis of the German Confederation and subsequently the German Empire from 1871. Surges of trade bloc formation occurred in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as in the 1990s after the collapse of Communism. By 1997, more than 50% of all world commerce was conducted within regional trade blocs.[2]Economist Jeffrey J. Schott of the Peterson Institute for International Economics notes that members of successful trade blocs usually share four common traits: similar levels of per capita GNP, geographic proximity, similar or compatible trading regimes, and political commitment to regional organization.[3]
Some advocates of global free trade are opposed to trading blocs. Trade blocs are seen by them to encourage regional free trade at the expense of global free trade.[4] Those who advocate for it claim that global free trade is in the interest of every country, as it would create more opportunities to turn local resources into goods and services that are both currently in demand and will be in demand in the future by consumers.[5] However, scholars and economists continue to debate whether regional trade blocs fragment the global economy or encourage the extension of the existing global multilateral trading system.[6][7]
Terminology
A common market is seen as a stage of economic integration towards an economic union[8] or possibly towards the goal of a unified market.
This article needs to be updated. The reason given is: newer GDP numbers needed. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(January 2023)
Selection of GDP PPP data (top 10 countries and blocs) in no particular order
Mansfield, Edward D. and Helen V. Milner, "The New Wave of Regionalism" in Diehl, Paul F. (2005). The Politics of Global Governance: International Organizations in an Interdependent World. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers. ISBN978-1-55587-654-8.
Milner, Helen V., "International Trade" in Carlsnaes, Walter; Thomas Risse; Beth A. Simmons (2002). Handbook of International Relations. London: SAGE Publications. ISBN978-0-7619-6304-2.
O'Loughlin, John; Luc Anselin (1996). "Geo-Economic Competition and Trade Bloc Formation: United States, German, and Japanese Exports, 1968–1992". Economic Geography. 72 (2): 131–160. doi:10.2307/144263. JSTOR144263.