“Historically, large-scale global trade has served two functions: 1) the exchange of goods between willing sellers and buyers described in Econ 101 textbooks; 2) as a tool of state aggrandizement, in which the private parties are stand-ins for governmental interests.” TwoStatesInterestPartyWillingToolsFunctionTradeScalesGoodsTextbooksSellersBuyersLarge ScalePrivate Parts Author:Charles C. Mann
“It is a mere futile process to exchange one set of commodities for another, if the parties; after this new distribution of goods has taken place, are not better off than they were before.” IfsProcessPartyTakenMereGoodsCommodityDistributionBetter Off Book:Principles of Political Economy: Considered with a View to Their Practical Application Source: Principles of Political Economy: Considered with a View to Their Practical Application
“The free flow of people across borders is not to be confused with the free flow of goods across borders. Free trade is a positive-sum game. Contrary to illegal immigration, it is always invited, consensual and hence mutually beneficial to the parties involved.” PeopleGamesPartyInvolvedFlowTradeContraryImmigrationBordersConfusedIllegalGoodsInvitedBeneficialFree TradeIllegal Immigration Author:Ilana Mercer
“Almost all of our relationships begin and most of them continue as forms of mutual exploitation, a mental or physical barter, to be terminated when one or both parties run out of goods.” LoveRunningFormMoneyPartyRelationshipCoupleRelationMutualGoodsOur RelationshipExploitationHuman RelationsBad RelationshipTroubled RelationshipBarteringOld Relationship Author:W. H. Auden