Explaining comparative advantage

In an extract from his new book 50 Economic Ideas, Edmund Conway considers the importance of comparative advantage built on the work of David Ricardo.

“Ricardo’s theory of comparative advantage is typically used as the backbone of arguments in favour of free trade – in other words abolishing tariffs and quotas on goods imported from foreign countries. It is claimed that, by trading freely with other countries – even those that, on paper, are more efficient at producing goods and services – one can become more prosperous than by closing one’s borders”