It is well known that if the autarkic and free-trade equilibria are perfectly competitive with market distortions limited to non-negative taxes on imports and exports then free trade is potentially (after country-specific lumpsum compensatory transfers) beneficial for each trading country. It...

The core normative propositions of the theory of international trade have been established in the context of finite competitive economies of the Walras–Arrow–Debreu–McKenzie (WADM) type. Whether the propositions survive the recognition that economies might last for ever, with overlapping...

In 1972, the potential gainfulness of free trade was established under fairly general assumptions — essentially those of Arrow and Debreu. Since then, the assumptions have been considerably weakened, notably by accommodating overlapping mortal generations and an infinite horizon. However,...