This is how the Welfare State dies. The people want benefits without paying for them. Governments are too weak to stand up to the voters to say we have to cut benefits or raise taxes on the middle class. So successive governments keep collapsing because the people will not vote in and support a government that will do what it takes to get them out of the mess. Ultimately, the military takes over. Goodbye, democracy.
The entire EU is such a welfare state. Therefore, what you outlined is the end game for all member states, and you will have one state rise to the top necessarily. Study the EU’s structure, though; it’s designed to give advantage to but one country.