Comparative economics in a changing world and the role of Europe

In this paper, we briefly discuss the variety of topics and methods of Comparative Economics and how it evolved over time, not only based on new interpretations and paradigms, but also due to new historical facts as well as a rapidly changing economic, institutional, and geopolitical context in the world. Great transformations have occurred in the last decades, especially after the fall of the Soviet Union and the supposed “end of history.” However, history never ends, and we are witnessing profound changes not only in individual countries but also in the international economic order, accompanied by attacks on multilateralism and an evident “slowbalization” in international trade, not to mention the innovations and developments – still largely unpredictable – related to Artificial Intelligence and the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution. We analyze in particular the delicate position of the European Union, in consideration of its long-run decline as an economic power and its recent failures in acting as a protagonist in a turbulent world; yet its actuality and perspectives should be preserved, also by rediscovering and strengthening its initial values.