'Ricardo's Gauntlet' advances a critique of the mainstream economic case for international free trade. While the core of the case for free trade is David Ricardo's principle of comparative advantage, the book argues that this case relies on a cluster of interconnected and mutually enforcing 'economic fictions' – economic theories or doctrines that pretend to be fact but which upon examination turn out to be mirages. Exposing the layers of fiction nested in the subfields of mainstream economics empties comparative advantage of its persuasiveness, bringing down the case for free trade.