… is from pages 43-44 of the 2002 first edition of Geoffrey E. Wood’s Fifty Economic Fallacies Exposed:
Trade between countries is not a competition in which there are winners and losers. It is a mutually beneficial activity, from which both sides gain….
So, then, the notion that countries ‘compete’ with one another in international trade is totally misconceived. And not only misconceived. It can cause harm, if it leads to policies which impede international trade. If, for example, we start protecting firms by tariffs or subsidies to produce ‘national champions’ then we are wasting resources.
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