No Free Lunch: Economics for a Fallen World: Third Edition, Revised

Chapter Fifteen: Issues in International Economics 360 In Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary , he notes, God, as the common Father of mankind, makes one country abound in one commodity, and another in another, serviceable to the necessity or to the comfort and ornament of human life. See what a blessing trade and merchandise are to mankind, when followed in the fear of God. -Matthew Henry In this passage in Ezekiel, we see a multitude of items exchanged. This is only natural, since Tyre was a major port of trade. As Henry notes, countries usually specialize in production of some goods or services, while others specialize in differing areas, since God has endowed nations differently; then both parties can gain by exchange. All of the benefits of exchange that we covered in chapter 2 apply equally here. In fact, we will review international trade using many of the same analytical techniques we used earlier. We will find that it makes no difference to economic analysis whether someone in Ohio is engaging in trade with someone in Indiana or in Australia. When God endows nations differently, it increases our interaction with other nations to gain the benefits of trade, and it opens up opportunities for us to testify to the truth of Jesus Christ.