The professor would then launch into a long and tortured exegesis that will ultimately culminate in a heavily hedged statement: “So if the long list of conditions I have just described are satisfied, and assuming we can tax the beneficiaries to compensate the losers, freer trade has the potential to increase everyone’s well-being.” If he were in an expansive mood, the professor might add that the effect of free trade on an economy’s growth rate is not clear, either, and depends on an altogether different set of requirements.
接着，这位教授会给出一大串冗长解释，最后形成一段模棱两可的结论：“那么，如果我刚才所说的一大串条件满足，并假设我们可以对受益者征税补偿受害者，那么更自由的贸易可以具有增进所有人福利的潜力。”如果这位教授研究甚广，他可能还会加上几句：自由贸易对一国经济的增长率的影响是不确定的，取决于不同的前提条件。