Trade & capital
Five nodes on the cross-border economy — goods, money, technology, and the political fight over all three.
Why this track existsMost arguments about trade are emotional because the gains are diffuse and the losses are concentrated. Track D makes the trade-offs concrete.
The 5-node arc
§ Nodes · in order- D1
Comparative advantage — and the modern critiques
Ricardo's argument is correct under tight assumptions that real economies often violate. The textbook version is right; the policy debates are about whether the assumptions hold.
● ready6 min - D2★
Balance of payments without tears
Every country's external accounts must balance to zero, by accounting identity. Trade deficits are matched by capital surpluses. 'We are running a trade deficit' and 'we are receiving foreign investment' are the same sentence.
● ready10 min - D3
Supply chains as financial structures
A modern supply chain isn't just goods moving — it's working capital, trade credit, and inventory finance. Disruptions are usually credit events that look like physical events.
● ready6 min - D4★
Capital flows & sudden stops
Foreign money rushes in for years, then flips. The reversal — the 'sudden stop' — is the canonical script of emerging-market crises since 1994. Recognising the diagnostics (CA deficit, short-term FX debt, reserve cover) is the entire alarm system.
● ready10 min - D5
Tariffs and industrial policy
A tariff is a tax on your own consumers paid to defend your own producers. Whether that's smart depends entirely on which producers and over what time horizon — i.e. it is a political choice, not an economic one.
● ready6 min