Un’infondata portata attribuita alla teoria ricardiana dei vantaggi comparati: un punto di vista post-keynesiano[A weak reach assigned to the ricardian theory of comparative advantage: a Post-Keynesian perspective]

This paper stresses the role of absolute productivities and absolute advantages, instead of relative productivities and comparative advantages, in the determination of the existence and pattern of international trade. It owes to the contribution of Brewer’s (1985) article, which follows an approach similar to that adopted by Parrinello (1970, 1973) and Metcalfe – Steedman (1973) to deal with the theory of international trade from a Sraffian perspective. We shall argue that a specific theoretical foundation rests behind the intuitive idea that national competitiveness can be a source of possible economic conflict among the national economies of a global economy. This conclusion contrasts with some distinguished views, according to which a national economy must possess a comparative advantage in some productive sector on the basis of an undisputed Ricardian principle.