1a) Fragility - yep that&#x27;s a fair point, however, you&#x27;d have to weigh the opportunity cost of not produce your most efficient good with the size of the predicted crash. I guess this is the notion of the Banana Republic.<p>1b) Crowding out - On conventional wisdom (if such a thing exists) this is not valid, the economy should automatically target production to whatever is most effective through the profit motive. However, some think that doesn&#x27;t always work: this is the idea of &#x27;lock-in&#x27; or &#x27;path dependency&#x27;. As you say, maybe it&#x27;s hard for a developing country to switch from the garment industry to more sophisticated manufacturing, and they get stuck on a particular course. You&#x27;d have to explain why that didn&#x27;t happen in the West.<p>2) Comparative advantage says nothing about how many people will be employed. All it&#x27;s saying is that the sum total of the value of goods will be greater. However, in theory, even if the US had very low employment rates, the few remaining high earners could redistribute that wealth and make everyone richer. Politics may come into play here!