Recently I've heard many people touting the "absolute truth" that spending and keeping money locally will some how stimulate ones local economy by changing hands "x" amount of times.
My first response is, that if it seems logical to the masses then there is probably no validity to it.
Can someone validate or refute this concept with any sound Austrian economic theory?
This is referring to the velocity of money. Frank Shostak discusses the concept of the velocity of money on Mises Daily.
Comparative advantage was first described by Robert Torrens in 1815 in an essay on the Corn Laws. He concluded it was to England's advantage to trade with Portugal in return for grain, even though it might be possible to produce that grain more cheaply in England than Portugal.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparative_advantage#Origins_of_the_theory
is the above austrian or some other school??
There was no Austrian school in 1815.