Reconstruction of Marx's Theory of Foreign Trade: How Rich Countries Got Rich

Abstract

Ricardo's theory of comparative advantages is considered to be the only classical theory of foreign trade. In terms of Marx's six books, "Foreign Trade" was supposed to be the fifth book. But the logic of the model – from the abstract to the concrete – allows us to detect elements of the theory of foreign trade in the published volumes of Capital. In volume I, a provision is put forward according to which countries exporting high-tech goods increase national value wealth.Volume III examines at the national level the law of the average rate of profit, which is carried out by redistributing the value created in labor-intensive industries in favor of capital–intensive industries through prices: prices for labor–intensive goods decrease, and prices for capital–intensive ones increase.The law of the average rate of profit operates at the international level. The wealth of nonindustrial countries is redistributed in favor of industrial ones. The reconstructed theory of Marx explains «How rich countries got rich... and why poor countries stay poor» (E. Reinert).