This openness can be expressed as the ratio of the sum of external assets and liabilities to GDP. For Germany, the degree of financial openness in 2004 amounted to around 300% – three times higher than in 1990. For the United States and the United Kingdom, this indicator roughly doubled in the same period.
In the industrial field, the market competition rules are not applicable to a very small number of industries such as defense industry, but most industries can open up and bring in competition. In the service sector, there are also sensitive industries, and some services can’t be delivered across the border. Thus, the market mechanism cannot cover all of them.