1. National wealth is equal to the amount of gold and silver currency

2. Economic benefits come from the field of circulation, not production. The production process of material assets does not create economic benefits.

3. Domestic trade will not create wealth, foreign trade is the only way to accumulate wealth.

4. International trade is a zero-sum game

5. The best way to increase wealth is to maintain a trade surplus

1. Advocate selling more and buying less, or even just selling but not buying.

2. Take administrative measures to directly control currency flows and prohibit the export of gold and silver.

3. Oppose the export of raw materials

1. Pay attention to the trade balance, from the "currency balance theory" to the "trade balance theory", believing that maintaining a foreign trade surplus is the way to make a country rich.

2. Trade surplus can be divided into individual and overall trade surpluses. A country does not have to insist on maintaining a surplus with all trading partner countries, as long as it maintains an overall surplus.

3. Oppose government restrictions on currency exports

4. Not all imports are harmful

5. In order to ensure the sales of export goods, the price of goods must be reduced and product quality must be improved.

1. Accelerated the primitive accumulation of capitalism and promoted the establishment and development of the capitalist mode of production.

2. Provides strong theoretical support for the development of "triangular trade"

3. Stimulate technological progress in Western European countries

4. The government strengthens its intervention and control over the economy

5. Rent-seeking is rampant, exacerbating social injustice.

1. The methodology is not scientific enough

2. The pragmatic research purpose is destined to make research conclusions not profound enough.

3. Some specific views need to be discussed

Adam Smith

"Wealth of Nations"

The first argument is that international trade is a "positive sum game" rather than a "zero sum game", and both countries that trade resources can benefit from it.

The measure of a country's wealth is not the amount of precious metals it possesses, but the number of goods these precious metals can purchase.

Countries should participate in the international division of labor

The principle of international division of labor is absolute advantage

Sources of absolute advantage

The interests of international trade include static interests and dynamic interests

theoretical significance

limitation

David Ricardo

"Principles of Political Economy and Taxation"

A factor of production: labor (L)

Two products: wheat (Qw), cloth (Qc)

two countries

Factors of production are fully mobile

Full employment, perfect competition, constant returns to scale

Does not consider shipping costs

No trade barriers such as tariffs

Relative differences in production base

relative labor productivity

relative labor cost

opportunity cost

Countries should specialize in producing and exporting those products in which they have a comparative advantage

Theoretical core: "Which of the two advantages should be chosen as the most important, and the two bad qualities should be chosen as the lighter."

Focus on producing and exporting products with "comparative advantages" and importing products with "comparative disadvantages" to obtain maximum benefits

Price: The relative price of products with comparative advantages increases

Division of production: a country specializes in the production of products with a comparative advantage

Welfare: Welfare has improved in all countries

Practical implications

theoretical contribution

limitation

John Stuart Mill

"Principles of Political Economy"

scope of reciprocal trade

Distribution of trade benefits

law of mutual need

Advantage

limitation