Owning El Salvador

First things first. Imagine two survivors of a shipwreck who make their way to a desert island. One brings with him a hammer. The other has retrieved a sickle. The island’s wealth consists of: two people, two implements, and raw vegetation.

The survivors eye each other’s implements. The one with the hammer decides that he would be more adept with the sickle, and the sickle-holder is a hammer-man at heart. So they swap. After the exchange—and by virtue of it— the island is wealthier. This paradox is the foundation stone of economic understanding. The material endowment of the island has not changed. Yet the island is wealthier.

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Tom Bethell

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First things first. Imagine two survivors of a shipwreck who make their way to a desert island. One brings with him a hammer. The other has retrieved a sickle. The island’s wealth consists of: two people, two implements, and raw vegetation.

The survivors eye each other’s implements. The one with the hammer decides that he would be more adept with the sickle, and the sickle-holder is a hammer-man at heart. So they swap. After the exchange—and by virtue of it— the island is wealthier. This paradox is the foundation stone of economic understanding. The material endowment of the island has not changed. Yet the island is wealthier.