Ricardian Economics - Comparative Advantage

Comparative Advantage

Ricardo was opposed to tariffs and other restrictions on international trade. Ricardo devised an idea that is well known as the theory of comparative advantage (Henderson 827, Fesfeld 325). According to the Washington Council on International Trade, comparative advantage is the ability to produce a good at a lower cost, relative to other goods, compared to another country. In the Principles of Economics, Ricardo states that comparative advantage is a specialization technique used to create more efficient production (52) and describes opportunity cost between producers (53). With perfect competition and undistorted markets, countries tend to export goods in which they have a comparative advantage ("Comparative Advantage").

For example, we should think of two countries that both make cards and pencils and use the same amount of time to make one unit of items (please see table). Country one can make 4 pencils if they specialize just in pencils at the expense of one card, but this country can also make ¼ of a card at the expense of one pencil. The same logic goes for country two: if country two makes only pencils, it will make 2 pencils at the expense of 1 card. If country two specializes only in cards, it will make ½ of a card at the expense of a pencil. For this example, country one has a comparative advantage in pencils over country two (4 pencils to 2 pencils), whereas, country two has a comparative advantage in cards over country one (½ of a card to ¼ of a card). In Ricardo's idea of comparative advantage, these two countries should specialize in what they do best. According to The Fortune Encyclopedia of Economics, Ricardo's idea of comparative advantage is "the main basis for most economists' belief in free trade today" (827).