… is from page 37 of Geoffrey Wood’s 1997 monograph, 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 impeded international trade. If, for example, we start protecting firms by tariffs or subsidies to produce ‘national champions’ then we are wasting resources.
