Rethinking the Costs of Economic Growth
John Tiemstra, Professor of Economics and Business
Presidential Address to the Association for Social Economics
Spring 2006

The basic idea from mainstream economics that I think is right is the gains from trade theorem. I have come to believe that the key to economic development and growth, the key to the great escape from hunger, misery, and want, is comparative advantage, specialization, and exchange. The poorest people in the world are incredibly resourceful and hardworking. They grow their own food, build their own houses, make their own garments, educate their own children, treat their own illnesses, and they are dirt poor. The richest people in the world do the same thing over and over again, one coronary artery bypass surgery after another, one performance of the greatest hits after another, one contract drafted after another, all day every day, and they buy almost everything they need. The simple recognition of the value of specialization is most of what it takes to escape poverty.

READ THE FULL TEXT »