Re: cOMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE and Benefits from Free Trade

[Juan Jose Barrios <jota@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Paul,

you have argued elsewhere that conventional results about the benefits of free trade hold  if we assume, among other things,  full employment before (i.e., autarky) and after free trade.  I fail to see why less than full employment will prevent the economy to reach an indifference curve which is further away from the origin, which is the result I assume you are questioning....If the economy is producing at a point inside the PPF, the only way, say, a change in prices would not benefit the economy is that potential production is not higher in terms of one good and strictly lower in terms of the other good.....comments??? thanks!