This paper surveys the different approaches to the analysis of international trade and economic development. Recent Neoclassical trade theory, the conjectures of Marx, the Neo-Marxist theories of trade and underdevelopment, and the structuralist (North-South) literature is examined. The different perspectives all seem to indicate that the gains-from trade is a potential concept. Its realization and distribution depend largely on the structure of markets, the nature of policies and the character of state power.