On Free Trade Ideology
According to conventional βwisdomβ free trade leads to prosperity. Usually the idea is based on a version of David Ricardoβs (1817) theory of βcomparative advantageβ which is taught in most high-school economics classes. There is, however, a fundamental problem with that theory, as was shown by Frank Graham in 1923, and unfortunately that problem tends to be ignored. In the following, I will briefly summarize Ricardoβs theory and Grahamβs correction thereof, and discuss why the latter is ignored and the effects and implications of that neglect. A revised version of this article is part of chapter 15 of A Buddha...