# Quote — Paul R. Krugman, Pop Internationalism

> The idea that a country's economic fortunes are largely determined by its success on world markets is a hypothesis, not a necessary truth; and as a practical, empirical matter, that hypothesis is flatly wrong. That is, it is simply not the case that the world's leading nations are to any important degree in economic competition with each other, or that any of their major economic problems can be attributed to failures to compete on world markets.

- Author: [Paul R. Krugman](https://www.leafyquotes.com/paul-r-krugman.md)
- Book: [Pop Internationalism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/paul-r-krugman/pop-internationalism.md)
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Paul_Krugman#Pop_Internationalism_(1996)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/paul-r-krugman/pop-internationalism/the-idea-that

## More from this book

> So let's start telling the truth: competitiveness is a meaningless word when applied to national economies. And the obsession with competitiveness is both wrong and dangerous.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/paul-r-krugman/pop-internationalism/so-lets-start.md)

> If growth in East Asia is indeed running into diminishing returns, however, the conventional wisdom about an Asian-centered world economy needs some rethinking.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/paul-r-krugman/pop-internationalism/if-growth-in-east.md)

> This article makes three points. First, it argues that concerns about competitiveness are, as an empirical matter, almost completely unfounded. Second, it tries to explain why defining the economic problem as one of international competition is nonetheless so attractive to so many people. Finally, it argues that the obsession with competitiveness is not only wrong but dangerous, skewing domestic policies and threatening the international economic system.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/paul-r-krugman/pop-internationalism/this-article-makes.md)