network is in general much denser than the observed one, and often almost fully connected. Other works obtained similar results using different methodologies [@serrano2005weighted; @serrano2006correlations; @Ansmann_Lehnertz_2011; @fronczak2012statistical; @Bhatta2007a].

The standard interpretation of these findings calls for the existence of higher-order mechanisms shaping the structure of the WTW as a weighted network, suggesting the impossibility to reconstruct the WTW from purely country-specific information. Again, this interpretation has important consequences for economic modelling. In fact, reproducing the observed strengths or other purely weighted properties which, unlike the degrees, represent the main target of traditional macroeconomic theories (the most popular example being that of Gravity Models [@Bergstrand1985; @chaney2008distorted; @duenas2011modeling; @myTinbergen]) appears quite useless in order to explain the network structure. Even if for the opposite reason, this conclusion calls again for a change of perspective in the way economic models approach the international trade system. However, in this paper we show that this interpretation should be considerably revised.

There is another attractive reason for using null models in network analysis, namely the possibility of reconstructing an (unobserved) network from its local properties. We recently introduced an enhanced method to build ensembles of networks simultaneously reproducing the strength and the degree of each node 