the majority of economists believe

the majority of economists believe in the comparative cost principle, wich proposes that all nations will raise their living standards and real income if they specialize in the production of those goods and services in which they have the highest relative productivity. nations may have an absolute or a comparative advantage in producing goods or services because if factors of production (notably raw materials), climate, division of labour, economies of scale, and so forth

this theory explains why there is international trade between North and south, e.g semiconductors going from the USA to Brazil, and coffee going in the opposite direction. but it does not explain the fact that over 75% of the exports of the advanced industrial countries go to other similar advanced nations, with similar resources, wage rates, and levels of technology, education, and capital. it is more a historical accident than a result of natural resources that the US leads in building aircraft, semiconductors, computers and software, wile germany makes luxury automobiles, machine tools and cameras