Government v government
I don't always read my cato feeds, but this was a good idea from over the summer. It escapes people how much they are supporting farming and particular agricultural industries. Since there are certainly plenty of people willing to pay extra for those meaningless fair trade or organic farming or a host of other labels, I would imagine there's a market of people who would see these and exercise some market discipline, in particular on the tariff goods.
The downside to this idea is made clear from a simple factor: I live in Ohio. A state which just voted for a Constitutional amendment which effectively established a farm prices board. Meaning that there are plenty of people who are too dumb to realize that "farmers" is a nomenclature that generally means "corporations" in the modern American farming world and all they're really supporting is more corporate welfare. If farm price supports actually helped farmers as it appears voters think they do, then it's doubtful that a sign indicating that a product is price supported by government is going to have much of an impact on market reactions.
19 December 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment