Mutual Benefit in International Trade

The author writes repeatedly about the mutuality of trade whether it is done locally or internationally. One of the first major types of trades he writes about are the metals of the Americas and their effect upon the European economies. Europeans ventured to the Americas and exploited the locals in order to obtain gold. This is one of the 20th century ways of describing what happened. People who know this story will have a different perspective on how Adam Smith shares the same information. From his view, Europeans had a great deal that the peoples of the Americas wanted and from which they could benefit greatly. Those in the Americas were in luck because they were also in possession of things of great value, such as gold and silver. This put them in a wonderful position to trade.

There were language barriers and cultural...