European economies - Frans J. L. Somers

This book should be invaluable for students taking BTEC / HND, undergraduate and post-graduate courses in European business studies. Business executives should also find it a useful reference.;It is written by an European author team and brings together information currently available in disparate sources. It includes comparative study of countries covered.;Although Western Europe is moving towards becoming an economic entity, there will still remain many differences between individual countries in the European Community in terms of economic structure, policies, labour market, industry and trade patterns.;In order to do business in a specific country, knowledge of the economic environment is essential. This book aims to provide students of European business and economics with a basic knowledge of the economic structure of the five largest EC countries - Germany, France, UK, Spain and Italy.;Each country survey is written by an expert teaching economics in the country itself. Each chapter is supported by statistics from Eurostats and OECD. A bibliography and sources for further investigation at the end of each chapter shoul make this book a useful and practical study tool. A glossary of foreign terms and abbreviations is also included for quick reference.;Finally, the last chapter provides the students with a comparative study of the countries covered in the book. This is supplemented by a statistical appendix containing stats from the twelve EC countries. Students can use these to draw their own comparisons.;Specific issues such as the UK entry into the European Monetry System and the German economic unification are also dealt with, as well as the steps taken by all five countries in preparation for the single market.