I think it's sort of strange to refer to comparative advantage, which is taught in every "Introduction to Macroeconomics" class/textbook in existence, as an "arcane" part of economics.
Arcane might be the wrong word ... but how many people leave an economics class actually understanding comparative advantage? I would bet (just on the basis of my mostly college educated friends and family) that most don't actually retain the knowledge if they even learned in the first place.