The concept of comparative advantage
On valentine’s day, 1996, which happened to fall less than a week before the crucial February 20 primary in new Hampshire, republican presidential candidate Patrick Buchanan stopped at a nursery to buy a dozen roses for his wife. He took the occasion to make a speech denouncing the growing imports of flowers into the united states, which he claimed were putting American flower growers out of business. And it is indeed true that a growing share of the market for winter roses in the united states is being supplied by imports flown in from south America. But is that a bad thing?