Each participant in trade is made better off, and this is true whether they’re neighbours or on opposite sides of the planet. Its significant power is that it fosters specialisation, which increases productivity. An iOS app developer is better off focusing on coding iPhone apps and buying his desk from a furniture manufacturer than learning to do both. Similarly, the furniture manufacturer is better off selling his desks using an app on his iPhone than learning to code his app for his online shop. The division of knowledge increases its total, which results in a productivity boost. Here I have touched on another trade benefit: the furniture manufacturer can sell to people worldwide. If he could only make furniture for himself, he wouldn’t be able to afford to hire people to help him and the equipment to speed up the process. It’s because he can sell it to so many people that he can make more furniture. Another crucial point is that this furniture maker might also be the best baker in town. However, he’s better off using his talents to make furniture because the opportunity cost of baking cakes is too high. He can let somebody else with comparatively less skill bake treats and bread because the rule of comparative advantage says when people (or nations) specialise in goods where they have a lower opportunity cost, they can trade for mutual reward.