Short answers, pulled from the story.
David Ricardo published his Theory of Comparative Advantage in 1817. This work provided a logical explanation for international trade based on inter-regional differences and suggested countries should specialize in producing goods where they hold a relative advantage.
Wassily Leontief found what became known as the Leontief Paradox when he tested the model in September 1953. Despite America being capital-rich, it exported labor-intensive products instead of capital-intensive ones which contradicted the theorem's predictions.
The Bretton Woods Agreement established fixed exchange rates among national signatories at the conclusion of World War II. The United States government committed to buying gold at $35 per ounce while maintaining strict controls over foreign exchange usage until suspending dollar convertibility in 1971.
A Copenhagen Consensus study by Kym Anderson and Alan Winter suggested global benefits reaching $675 billion annually by 2025 under those conditions. This estimate assumed foreign workers would comprise three percent of rich country labor forces.
Paul Krugman used the Mundell-Fleming model to provide simple accounts of the Asian financial crisis. His analysis showed how capital mobility influences macroeconomic policy conduct during such economic events.