HECOL441 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: World Peace, General Agreement On Tariffs And Trade, Comparative Advantage
2 Sep 2016
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Lecture 5: trade and globalization; introduction of key. Almost all civilizations have produced and traded in t&c throughout history. Trade value is further enhanced by fact that clothing is a basic human need. Therefore, nations have strived for self-reliance to meet this need for their populace, while trading any surplus with other nations. While all kinds of commodities have gured in global trade, textiles for both mass & elite consumption have always been signi cant, both qualitatively & quantitively. In addition to being used for apparel and furnishings, textiles also performed important function in the domain of rituals, exchange of gifts and identity. In economics domain, textiles often served as a medium of exchange. Standard case for free trade holds that countries are best o when they focus on sectors which they have a comparative advantage (result from easy access to raw materials, skilled workers, technology) Allowing countries to specialize accordingly increases productivity across all countries.
