Discuss (b) comparative advantage

International trade — the exchange of goods, services (and capital and ideas) across borders: the imports and exports; the supply chains' web (the modern good made in many countries). International trade law — the rules governing those exchanges, working on two layers (the concept's spine): The private-law layer — the merchant's law: the sale contracts (Unit 5), the trade terms (Unit 2), the transport and its documents (Unit 4), the financing (Unit 6), the dispute resolution (Unit 12) — the parties' rights and duties; The public-law layer — the state's law: the tariffs and quotas, the trade agreements, the WTO's world (Unit 9), the regional organizations (Units 10-11), the exchange controls (Unit 7) — the governments' disciplines. The theories behind the trade (the concept's background — learn two): Mercantilism — the oldest doctrine: wealth as power; exports encouraged, imports discouraged; the modern echoes in protectionism; Comparative advantage (Ricardo) — trade pays even where one country is better at EVERYTHING: the relative costs matter; each specialises where its disadvantage is least — the mutual gain's case for free trade (with the honest critiques: the infant-industry argument for late developers; the fair-trade agenda).