It's not quite the same since Adam Smith though. Lifting trade restrictions has correlated with the greatest prosperity known to mankind. It turns out that if

It's not quite the same since Adam Smith though. Lifting trade restrictions has correlated with the greatest prosperity known to mankind. It turns out that if your trade balance makes your currency very cheap then investing in your country also becomes cheap. This increases your (cheaper) production and then increases your exports making your currency more expensive. Ie trade balance tends to balance itself out.