Comparative Advantage
Ricardo's result that trade pays even when one party is better at everything, because what matters is relative rather than absolute cost. Inside a firm it argues for concentrating people on what they give up least to do. It also explains why supply chains fragment across borders, and what is surrendered when they are pulled back.
10 books · 2 people behind it · 3 resources
Start here
- The Undercover EconomistTim Harford, 2005
- Economics in One LessonHenry Hazlitt, 1946
- The Wealth of NationsAdam Smith, 1776
The people behind it 2
Each person holds a book in this entry or names it in their own tags.
Academics 1
Journalists 1
Resources 3
- The Pendulum in International AffairsHoward Marks · memo · The pendulum framing applied outside markets.
- Explore or Exploit?Shane Parrish · essay · The opportunity cost of sticking with the known.
- Do Things That Don't ScalePaul Graham · essay · Why early growth comes from unscalable manual effort.
Books 10
Jared Diamond · 1997 · Geography and biogeography as the deep causes of divergent national wealth
David S. Landes · 1998 · Why some economies grew rich; culture and institutions across five centuries
Matt Ridley · 2010 · Specialisation and exchange as the engine of rising living standards
Russell Roberts · 2001 · Economics argued through a novel; markets and their moral defence
William W. Lewis · 2004 · Sector-level explanation of why productivity differs so much between countries