Author(s): Chilumba Kamfwa Bwalya
'Capital is money; capital is commodities.’ It has acquired the ability to increase its value due to its status as something valuable. Regardless of whether it gives birth to living creatures or simply lays eggs, the fact that it does so is in no way accidental. Everything we know, see, touch, sense, and feel is part of capital. That may not be conclusive enough in economics, but it is adequate in terms of the disparity in economic power. Retrospectively, Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations was founded on capital and resource endowments, how they could be productively transformed into tradeable and exchangeable commodities and services, and how they could be turned into a comparative and competitive advantage. It is agreeable that international trade is key to ensuring the wheels of nations are moving. However, trade has many considerations, ranging from protectionist tendencies to factor endowments and comparative advantage. All these facets of international trade come together to present a complex plethora of theories and practices. Call it conflict, theft and/or trade collaboration; it is hard to say whether or not money is capital or a means to capital or perhaps capital for the wealthy only. Is there a correlation between the amount of capital and the number of progenies? Perspectives on the WTO and international trade theories and practices in global economics are important questions asked herein. This paper presents theoretical, conceptual and practical aspects of Mercantilisms from exchange and specialization, competitive and comparative advantage and the H-O theorem of trade.