6 and 8 don't naturally pair in the way people commonly think. Comparative advantage is a confusing term in my mind. I typically substitute 'relative' for 'com

6 and 8 don't naturally pair in the way people commonly think. Comparative advantage is a confusing term in my mind. I typically substitute 'relative' for 'comparative'. It is an idea rooted in opportunity cost. The key insight of the concept is that there are benefits to exchange among two parties, even if one party holds an absolute advantage in production of all goods and services. There is a good discussion in the wikipedia article [0]. It is a useful exercise to work a couple of examples between two parties who each produce the same two goods, but at different costs. When stripped down, it seems simplistic. But it is an incredibly useful mindset. A non-rigorous example, with completely made up nonsense numbers. Consider an individual with a lawn. This individual needs their lawn mowed. They happen to be a superb lawn mower. They can mow their lawn in 30 minutes. Anyone they hire takes an hour to mow the lawn. This person has an absolute advantage in mowing their own lawn. Our hypothetical person can find someone who will mow their lawn (in an hour) for $1. Our hypothetical person can earn $10/hr. If they choose to mow their lawn (30min) they lose out on $5 of income. If they work 6 minutes, they can earn enough to pay for the lawn to be mowed. Thus our hypothetical person can choose to spend 30 minutes to mow their lawn, or they can spend 6 minutes to have their lawn mowed (async q;). Despite being a better lawn mower, our hypothetical person has a comparative disadvantage in lawn mowing. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparative_advantage#Ricardo's_example https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparative_advantage#Ricardo'...