4 ms·
Every country heavily subsidizes and protects their agriculture market. There is no free market in agriculture. World hunger has not been 'solved' and any suc
by throw2016 9y ago
Every country heavily subsidizes and protects their agriculture market.
There is no free market in agriculture.
World hunger has not been 'solved' and any success cannot simply be credited to 'free markets' for a such a large scale complex human social problem.
- SamReidHughes 9y agoThe subsidies are actually minuscule, compared to welfare spending and other transfer payments to the needy.
- WalterBright 9y agoHunger is a solved problem everywhere there is a free market. It makes sense for countries to protect their domestic food production as a military asset - cutting off the food supply is a common warfare tactic. Subsidies also come about because of powerful agricultural lobbying interests. As to if subsidies reduce hunger, the evidence is scant to none. There is plenty of evidence, however, that they result in inefficient misallocation of resources, such as water.
- WalterBright 9y agoAlso, many subsidies in the US are in the form of price supports, and paying farmers to not farm. These are designed to increase costs to consumers, because the free market was allegedly too successful in reducing the price of food. Check out the great American pig slaughter during the Depression: https://livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe30s/crops_17.html https://livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe30s/crops_17.html