Whereas in the early 1970s considerable conflict characterized transatlantic economic relations, still before the mid-1970s the two sides of the Atlantic managed to find satisfactory compromises on most issues. To explain this outcome, I argue that disputes in the economic realm among highly interdependent entities tend to mobilize countervailing forces. Fearing losses, these forces push for a resolution of controversial issues before they can set off a genuine crisis. After applying this argument to the case of the 1970s, I suggest that a similar mechanism may help the European Union and the United States find compromises on disputed issues in the early twenty-first century as well.
