Scarcity constrains us, but there is a path toward greater abundance. Let’s illustrate a powerful idea with just a little arithmetic.

Suppose that in a day’s time, Peter could bake ten loaves or catch four fish. Not “and.” If he bakes ten loaves, he can’t catch four fish. If he catches four fish, he can’t bake ten loaves. For simplicity, assume he spends half his day baking loaves and half his day catching fish, which means he eats five loaves and two fish daily.

Now let’s imagine you meet Peter. Perhaps you didn’t get a great education and don’t have many skills. As a result, you can only bake two loaves or catch two fish in a day. If you spend half your day baking and half fishing, you eat one loaf and one fish daily.

A few things are clear here. First, Peter is better at both baking and fishing than you are. Peter would win a baking contest. He would win a fishing competition. Therefore, many assume Peter has nothing to gain from your existence but hold on: who would win a baking or fishing contest doesn’t matter. Who gives up the fewest fish to bake a loaf matters. The surprising conclusion: you can each get more fish and more bread by specializing and trading.

Multiplication by Specialization

Suppose you each specialize a little bit and then trade. Peter bakes more and fishes less, now catching one fish and baking seven and a half loaves. Meanwhile, you abandon baking altogether for fishing, catching two fish, and baking no loaves.

Then you trade. Suppose Peter trades you two loaves for a fish. After the two of you have specialized and traded, Peter can consume five and a half loaves and two fish. Since Peter can consume more, does this mean you are worse off? Ronald Sider might say yes, but the answer is no. If anything, you are the big winner because you can eat two loaves and a fish rather than just one of each.

To see what each fish costs Peter, divide the ten loaves he doesn’t bake by the four fish he catches. Each fish costs Peter two and a half loaves (ten divided by four). Doing the same math for you shows that each fish costs you one loaf.

It’s easy to see the gains from trade. If Peter can buy a fish from you for fewer than the two and a half loaves it would cost to catch the fish himself, he’s better off. Meanwhile, you’re better off catching fish at one loaf per fish and then selling them for more than one loaf per fish.

Have the two of you cleverly invented sophisticated new mixers and ovens? No. Did you get better fishing tackle? No. Did you, like Jesus, miraculously turn five loaves and two fish into enough to feed the multitudes? Again, no. You’ve just specialized a little bit, and as a result, you and Peter can eat the same number of fish as before you specialized, but you can eat more bread.

Implications for International Trade

The implications are profound. First, while we can’t miraculously turn five loaves and two fish into enough to feed thousands of people, we can help feed the multitudes by specializing in what we can do at the lowest opportunity cost and trading the fruit of our labor for the fruit of others’. It’s beautiful, in part, because you get more by giving others more; at the end of the day, you have more to help those who cannot help themselves.

Second, trades don’t have “winners” and “losers.” You and Peter get more. Because you can specialize and trade, you can enjoy more than you could without the other’s help. Importantly, neither party is the object of the other’s charity. You don’t have Peter’s skills, but you earn more daily bread by making it possible for Peter to earn more as well.

Third, economists agree that foreigners are our friends. Failure to understand international trade and immigration causes unnecessary fear and makes us poorer.

While we don’t have the space to address every immigration concern, we can address one. Imagine, in our example, that Peter is a New Yorker while you’re a born-and-raised Canadian. People worry that immigrants will “take our jobs,” but our example shows that your increased standard of living does not come at Peter’s expense. The basic idea holds whether you stay in Canada your whole life or cross the New York border and begin a new life as an American citizen.

Economists disagree a lot, but we agree on international trade. It’s mere economics par excellence.

Editor’s note: The following is adapted from Mere Economics: Lessons For and From the Ordinary Business of Life by Dr. Art Carden and Dr. Caleb Fuller. Used with permission of B&H Academic. Learn more and order here.