After four difficult years, I can finally say I understand comparative advantage. I don't mean simple calculations or the basic concept behind the fancy technical term. Well, I do mean both, but what I mean to stress is that I understand it. I might just pop up open that bottle of champagne I've been saving for special occasions. Or just have a glass of cold water to wake me up from my temporary excitement and get me started on yet another problem set nearing its deadline. Either one will do.
I can't be certain if it was me falling asleep in the majority of classes, or the way professors try to explain things and often fail, or both, but I am finding out only now that I have confused Smith and Ricardo's absolute and comparative advantage up to this very moment. Who knew that absolute is absolute and comparative is based on comparison?! OK, enough silliness, but as obvious it is to most of you, the notion that by flipping a fraction, the comparative advantage pattern will be reversed holds true every single time (unless the fractions are equal, duh!) had not crossed my mind!!
Full credit and my deep gratitude goes to my online textbook resource (since I refuse to buy actual Econ textbooks anymore) that got me through the basics of my Master's International Trade and the current International Economics classes. Sadly, I took the former before the latter and thought that after passing the more difficult one, I'd dance my way through the other. I couldn't have been more wrong...
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