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National Raisin Reserve
- dpflan 11y agoInspired by this `Planet Money` podcast: Rocky Pipkin, Private Eye vs. The Raisin Outlaw http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2013/08/09/210550830/episode-478-rocky-pipkin-private-eye-vs-the-raisin-outlaw http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2013/08/09/210550830/episo...
- namewithhe1d 11y agoIt's such an incredibly outdated way of conducting business. The podcast was really terrific in showing the underworkings of an industry that I would never even think twice about. Very interesting
- PhantomGremlin 11y agoOne episode of The Simpsons had the characters driving up a mountain. Off to the side was a sign: "STRATEGIC GRANITE RESERVE". Just about as useful as a raisin reserve.
- ptaipale 11y agoFor the US, correct. For something like Singapore, I think a strategic granite reserve is actually useful. It is interesting that remnants like this still exist after the economic transition at end of WW II: strategic raisin reserve, rent control in New York to accommodate returning servicemen and their families (http://citylimits.org/2015/03/09/nycs-endangered-species-a-rent-controlled-apartment/ http://citylimits.org/2015/03/09/nycs-endangered-species-a-r...).
- JumpCrisscross 11y agoWhat has been the tangible outcome of the Supreme Court's recent ruling?
- dpflan 11y agoPerhaps it's too soon to tell. According to SCOTUS, the ruling was on 6/22/2015 and judgement was issued on 7/24/2015. At least this means the program is defunct, so I suspect the Raisin Administrative Committee no longer discusses this matter in the same way. Does this mean raisins could be cheaper in the future if there is less supply control/"diversion"? SCOTUS Blog: http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/horne-v-department-of-agriculture-2/ http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/horne-v-departmen...
- gayprogrammer 11y agoAmerica is so rich, she has to confiscate food from her citizens to keep a semblance of a scarcity economy.
- eru 11y agoOh, poor countries do even more of these shenanigans.
- palmer_eldritch 11y agoYeah, but when they confiscate food in poor countries it's to maintain the elite in their luxury, regardless of how much everyone else is starving.
- eru 11y agoOh, they also do lots of stupid things just 'cause. (Eg the elite could have more money and luxury, if they were grabbing more efficiently.)
- gpvos 11y agoThe EU has a bunch of these, called the butter mountain, wine lake, etc.
- manarth 11y agoThey're mostly gone, but their existence had a very different cause: 'This basic system led to the infamous "butter mountains" and "wine lakes" of the 1980s, with farmers being paid to produce goods for which there was no market.' [1] This seems very different to the USA system, where according to the article: 'The profits from the raisins, often seized for no payment, are then used to pay the expenses of the committee or pay back farmers for their seized produce. In one recent year, $65,483,211 was made, although it was all spent, with none left over for farmers'. [1] http://www.ecpa.eu/information-page/agriculture-today/common-agricultural-policy-cap http://www.ecpa.eu/information-page/agriculture-today/common...
- jrochkind1 11y agoThere are definitely other programs that are more like farmers being paid to produce goods for which there was no market. Although what's more common in the U.S. is farmers being paid to leave their fields fallow to avoid over-production. The raisin reserve model is unusual, but there are many ways in which the U.S. regulates/manipulates agricultural markets specifically.
- steveax 11y agoMade me think of Quebec's strategic maple syrup reserve and the 2012 heist [1] [1]: http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/09/why-does-canada-have-a-strategic-maple-syrup-reserve/261869/ http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/09/why-does...
- Vanayad 11y agoThat is important though in case of low maple syrup production as they export a lot of it.
- inopinatus 11y agoSounds like a plum job. I wonder if it will remain currant.
- ptaipale 11y agoThere's a grain of truth in what you say.
- ChristianGeek 11y agoThis isn't Reddit.
- mmf 11y agoAwesome: "fed to cattle or schoolchildren". :-)
- xupybd 11y agoI live in a much more socialist country than the US. And when I think of the US I think of hard line capitalists that can't stand socialism. But reserves like this seem out right communist. State owned reserves designed to manipulate market prices. What am I missing? Or are my assumptions about the US and capitalism wrong?
- icebraining 11y agoI'd say they are wrong, the US is full of these regulations, particularly around farming - cheese reserves, almond sale limits, assured prices (if the market price is below X, the State makes up the difference), etc. The claims about how free market oriented the US is are mostly propaganda.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- jrochkind1 11y agoYour assumptions about the US and capitalism are wrong. You are not alone, it is the national mythology in the U.S., and increasingly the world. But the rise of capitalism was never truly about a 'free market', but has always been sheparded by the state.
- legulere 11y agoAn unregulated easily leads to price sparks and crashes. This can easily become catastrophic for governments, so they try to keep the prices stable for both the consumers as well as the producers.
- mattlutze 11y agoReserves like this are built to smooth smaller variability in markets to make them less chaotic, I guess. If weather impacts logistics for a short time, if a particular crop is bad in part of the country, etc. It's not communistic in any definition I can gather, but rather a trust mechanism to keep small hiccups in a market from causing larger effects than they should. Internationally, I suppose, it's a negotiating mechanism to keep trade in an advantageous state.
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- Shivetya 11y agoThat 2013 case mentioned in the article is of utmost importance. I suggest you read up on it to understand just how dangerous the government has become. No tinfoil hat here, agencies are simply out of control because their powers are so unchecked everyday people don't stand a chance. http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/victory-over-raisin-administrative-committee-new-deal-case-took-80-years http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/victory-over-rai...
- pdabbadabba 11y agoThat agencies' powers are "unchecked" is an odd conclusion to draw from an article announcing that Cato's position won and the Supreme Court has concluded that farmer's must be paid for their confiscated raisins.
- qq66 11y agoIt shouldn't have needed the Supreme Court to rule that the government can't take arbitrary amounts of a farmer's crop without payment.
- StavrosK 11y agoMaybe the OP means the fact that someone had to sue in order to get paid for their confiscated property?
- pdabbadabba 11y agoMaybe. But still, that's not evidence that the agency is unchecked so much as a complaint that it takes too much effort in some cases to check it. And more importantly, this was not exactly a case where the agency was running amok in blatant violation of the law. It was a genuinely controversial legal proposition whether personal property was covered by the Takings Clause of the 5th Amendment until this case was decided. Most legal checks on agency action do not require enunciation of new principles of Constitutional law by the Supreme Court, so this is not a great example.
- jevgeni 11y ago> ... where they are stored until they are sold off to foreign nations, fed to cattle or schoolchildren, To reiterate: > fed to cattle or schoolchildren
- ceefan 11y agoThere was a Daily Show piece on this from the farmers' perspective: http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/pmrodj/raisin-growers-lawsuit http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/pmrodj/raisin-growers-laws...