Today, the world is much more interconnected than how it was centuries ago. We have oil from Italy, jeans from Mexico, dishes from China, cars from Germany, CD players from Japan, and the list goes on and on. 

If you just look in your kitchen, you'll see ingredients from around the world, or at least from around your country! Even fruits, vegetables, and breads are grown or made in different places, and they are shipped to your local market for you to buy! Can you just imagine how much harder it would be if you had to grow everything you ate everyday? How would you have time to go to school or work? 

However, because of trade, that is not a problem for most of us. Not only is the world more greatly connected than before through trade, it is also more convenient, more healthy, and perhaps more even peaceful.

In the sections that follow (see menu at right), you'll learn how trade has made the world a smaller, better place. There are FOUR major points that we will cover in more depth:

• Trading allows everyone to do what they are best at because doing what you are best at is best for society as a whole.

• Trade is mutually beneficial: We make more, are better at what we make, and then have more time for leisure.

• Innovation, technology, methodology, tools, materials, and professionals are all gained through trade.

• Globalization: Trade connects the world, allowing us access to goods and services around the world that we can't create ourselves. Countries depend on eachother, and as a result, everyone is more, and more interconnected.

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