ABSTRACT
In Chapter 3, Paul Krugman addresses the question of why many intellectuals fail to grasp the idea of comparative advantage and even resist it. This resistance, Krugman argues, is common even among authors who are considered to be serious commentators on international trade, economic integration and globalization. To explain this resistance, Krugman presents three reasons: 1 The idea of comparative advantage is considered old and boring, not
new and exciting. 2 The idea of comparative advantage is only seemingly simple, in reality
it is difficult to understand. 3 The idea of comparative advantage presents an outlook on the economic
world which is essentially mathematical in nature, to which many intellectuals feel opposed.
