Poor Theory, Poor Countries If free trade runs counter to the development needs of poor countries, why do most mainstream economists continue to advocate it? One reason is that the theory of free trade is so remarkably compelling. The keystone of modern free-trade theory comes from David Ricardo, the early-19th-century British economist. Ricardo argued that the global economy would operate most efficiently and productively if every country specialised in producing the goods in which they have a comparative advantage over other countries, given their particular set of technologies. If Portugal
...more
