Trade between democratic and centralized countries can create a 'fentanyl-like' addiction that makes it almost impossible for their economies to break up.
March 25, 2026
Original Paper
Industrial Fentanyl Model Theory: A Political Economy Model of Structural Dependence and Asymmetric Industrial Competition
SSRN · 6338438
The Takeaway
This model challenges the assumption that trade is a neutral choice based on 'comparative advantage.' It argues that when a state-controlled economy suppresses costs to penetrate a market, it dismantles the buyer's industry so thoroughly that 'quitting' via protectionism causes such severe inflationary pain that the country becomes effectively locked into the relationship.
From the abstract
This paper proposes the "Industrial Fentanyl Model Theory" to explain the phenomenon of structural economic dependence arising between two countries with significantly different institutional systems under globalization. Driven by extreme cost disparities and institutional constraint asymmetries, this relationship transcends traditional comparative advantage. The theory constructs an abstract model involving two primary actors: Country A, a highly developed liberal capitalist economy, and Countr