Think about this from the consumer’s point of view. Nobody in China can blow glass; nobody in Europe can reel silk. Thanks to a middleman in India, however, the European can wear silk and the Chinese can use glass. The European may scoff at the ridiculous legend that this lovely cloth is made from the cocoons of caterpillars; and the Chinese may guffaw at the laughable fable that this transparent ceramic is made from sand. But both of them are better off and so is the Indian middleman. All three have acquired the labour of others. In Robert Wright’s terms, this is a non-zero transaction. The
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