Chapter Twelve

"Trade makes us richer"
This section of the chapter begins with a quote by Abe Lincoln explaining how he feels about trading with England for cheap iron rails with which to build the railroad. He said "It seems to me that if we buy the rails from England, then we've got the rails and they've got the money. But if we build the rails here, we've got our rails and we've got our money." This however does not prove to be true. Wheelan then uses an analogy about a butcher and how technically buying meat from him would put the money in his hands and the meat in ours, that isn't exactly how it works. By buying the meat from the butcher we save hours of time and money that would have been used caring for the animal. "We trade with others because it frees up time and resources to do things we are better at" (274). This principal is why Abe Lincoln was wrong...oops.