Even if we excel, the total amount does not increase

What does it mean to be “superior”?

Being the fastest runner in class is a matter of being superior. Being able to ride a bicycle is a matter of being capable. The former cannot exist without the class; the latter exists even if you are alone. These two are often conflated, but they are different quantities.

Even if everyone gets faster, there is still only one gold medal

In 1912, during the qualifiers of the Stockholm Olympics, Donald Lippincott of the United States ran the 100 meters in 10.6 seconds. This was the first world record recognized by the IAAF.

In 1968, Jim Hines clocked 9.95 seconds in Mexico City, breaking the ten-second barrier. In 2009, Usain Bolt clocked 9.58 seconds. This remains the world record today.

In about a hundred years, the time was reduced by one second. There were studies on running form, training methods changed, the materials of shoes and tracks evolved, and nutrition and medicine improved. Humanity has actually become faster. Hines was the first to break ten seconds in 1968, but now over a hundred people have done so.

In the meantime, only eight people line up for the final. There is still only one gold medal.

In 1912, there was one person in first place; in 2009, there was also one person in first place. No matter how many people become capable of running under ten seconds, that number does not change.

Even if everyone gets faster, not a single ranking position is added.

The reason for trading with the inferior side

In 1817, in the seventh chapter of On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, David Ricardo presented four numbers.

To produce cloth in England, it takes a hundred people working for one year. To produce wine in the same country, it takes one hundred and twenty people. In Portugal, it takes ninety people for cloth and eighty for wine.

Portugal wins in both. They can produce both cloth and wine with fewer people. If that is the case, it seems there would be no reason for Portugal to buy anything. It would be cheaper to produce everything themselves.

What Ricardo demonstrated was that this is not the case. If Portugal produces only wine and buys cloth from England, both countries benefit. Because Portuguese labor shifts toward wine and English labor shifts toward cloth, the combined production of the two countries increases.

What catches the eye in this calculation is that the quantity of “who is superior” is never used. The only quantity used is how much labor a country allocates to what.

Therefore, even for the side that loses across the board, a place remains as a trading partner.

There was a reason to trade with the inferior side. Superiority and inferiority are not conditions for trade.

Quantities that increase, and quantities that do not

These two are different types of quantities.

Superiority is a comparative quantity. If someone rises, someone else falls. Therefore, even if everyone improves, the total amount does not change. Even after spending a hundred years to become one second faster, there was still only one first-place finisher.

Capability is an absolute quantity. If one person increases theirs, no one else’s decreases. Furthermore, the increased amount can be exchanged. This was the quantity included in Ricardo’s calculation.

There is only one conclusion to be drawn from this: raising your rank does not increase the things that exist in the world. It only swaps who holds them. If you want to increase something, you have no choice but to increase the things you are capable of doing.

There is value in being capable, but there is no value in being superior to others.