Two Central Theses in the Theory of International Trade and Their Place in the Economists’ World View

“What are the consequences *) of international trade for those countries engaging in trade?” This is a summary of the questions to which international trade theorists want to find a satisfactory answer. To answer it, economists look at our world through a specific kind of “spectacles” yielding a specific world view. If we want to know how economists understand the opening question, we first have to take a good look at these world views, which, however, differ fundamentally from one economic research programme to another.