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Rob F.'s avatar

I didn't follow the explanation, but it did not seem to touch on two seemingly reasonable reasons for wanting to build automobiles instead of grow them.

1. Military implications - The ability to build vehicles & infrastructure seems important for a military campaign. It seems likely to be a problem for the US that China dominates drones.

2. Innovation implications - Reportedly, people build electronics in China because the density of expertise makes it feasible, not just cheaper. In principle, it seems plausible that there would be important benefits to those who fabricate something to improve it further. Wanting to have innovation happen in the US makes sense.

And really, a lot of the high value jobs performed in the US are in the world of finance and bits. As in the case of Trantor, that can leave the seat of an empire vulnerable when it depends on other worlds for the sustenance of its population and elevated industry.

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Frank's avatar

Two hundred fifty years of international trade and monetary theory in a single lesson! Wonderful tour de force, badly needed.

My experience of half a life time teaching this to people for whom it was required, not voluntary, was like teaching all of economics: They don't want to know! They actively reject. Just like lay people actively reject. [It's different for those who study such stuff voluntarily.]

Why might this be? The question keeps me up some nights. Evolutionary biology? If they have it, we don't? Who is this we? If you have it, I don't have it? Anyway, it's not fair, another way of saying "I deserve more".

Many years ago, I talked to my daughter's third grade class, at her behest, trying to explain comparative advantage. I constructed an example of a mother and father growing tomatoes and potatoes, each in their own patch, and then they specialized, with Papa less efficient in both than Mama. The little kids got the arithmetic one helluva lot more quickly than grownups!

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