4 ms·
This sounds great in principal, and ending American and European food subsidies would be great for Africa. Additionally, food subsidies distort the market by,
by 1053r 16y ago
This sounds great in principal, and ending American and European food subsidies would be great for Africa. Additionally, food subsidies distort the market by, for example, making corn syrup cheaper than sugar in the US.
The problem is that many Americans (I don't know as much about Europe) aren't actually that wealthy. Without food subsidies, our food quality would probably increase, but so would our costs. Poor Americans are overweight today because the distorted food costs make it cheaper to eat processed food (that is more expensive to make overall) than to eat basic fruits and veggies and grains. Without subsidies, they would be starving, or at least calorie deficient.
Nixon put in our current system of subsidies because "food should never be an issue in a presidential race". And since then, it hasn't. America may be wealthy, but the wealth is very unevenly distributed. Without social programs, many of our people would be starving as well.
- muriithi 16y agoI respectfully disagree. The same prophesies of doom were advanced when in 1984 New Zealand's Labor government took the dramatic step of ending all farm subsidies. Productivity and efficiency have increased much faster than when subsidies were in place. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/3747430.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspon... http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/02/business/worldbusiness/02farm.html?_r=1 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/02/business/worldbusiness/02f... http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=3411 http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=3411
- heresy 16y agoAnd one result of those subsidies being cut is the US erecting trade barriers to protect US dairy farmers from the now hyper-competitive NZ dairy farmers.
- timknauf 16y agoYes, from my (New Zealand, although not a farmer) point of view I'd say the ending of farm subsidies has been hugely beneficial to NZ's economy.
- Ardit20 16y agoWouldn't you just export the food from Africa where you probably can buy a banana with 10 pence.