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David Ricardo (1817), On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation. The earliest statement of comparative advantage was probably that of Robert Torrens’ (1815), An Essay on the External Corn Trade, Hatchard. The essence of comparative advantage can be shown by the (notional) case of a nation that can produce everything more efficiently than can any competitor: does such a nation have any incentive to trade? Yes. It is rational for it to purchase the items which it can produce least efficiently and buy them from an overseas supplier, if this allows it to produce more of the items it produces more efficiently. The overall efficiency of the importing nation is thereby increased. This makes perfect sense in a robustly growing world economy stretched to the limit to find ways of producing more with the resources at its disposal. That economy is the inverse of the Lean Economy.

David Fleming
Dr David Fleming (2 January 1940 – 29 November 2010) was a cultural historian and economist, based in London, England. He was among the first to reveal the possibility of peak oil's approach and invented the influential TEQs scheme, designed to address this and climate change. He was also a pioneer of post-growth economics, and a significant figure in the development of the UK Green Party, the Transition Towns movement and the New Economics Foundation, as well as a Chairman of the Soil Association. His wide-ranging independent analysis culminated in two critically acclaimed books, 'Lean Logic' and 'Surviving the Future', published posthumously in 2016. These in turn inspired the 2020 launches of both BAFTA-winning director Peter Armstrong's feature film about Fleming's perspective and legacy - 'The Sequel: What Will Follow Our Troubled Civilisation?' - and Sterling College's unique 'Surviving the Future: Conversations for Our Time' online courses. For more information on all of the above, including Lean Logic, click the little globe below!

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