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The government already sets the price of milk, and has done so since FDR (1930s). http://www.eatingwell.com/article/16029/who-decides-how-much-we-pay-for-milk/
by tomohawk 8y ago
The government already sets the price of milk, and has done so since FDR (1930s).
http://www.eatingwell.com/article/16029/who-decides-how-much-we-pay-for-milk/ http://www.eatingwell.com/article/16029/who-decides-how-much...
Such nationalized policies unfortunately are prone to capture by big players, so cronyism gets rewarded disproportionally over other concerns.
I can see the point in government getting involved to make sure that the food supply is up to standard and that there is enough extra capacity in the system to ride through the inevitable bad times (like the dust bowl).
However, given the dairy industry has been mostly shaped by government programs and regulations since the 1930's, it seem unlikely that salvation for small dairymen is going to come from that direction.
- StreamBright 8y agoJust another example when unintended side effects of government regulation create a larger problem than the one it was supposed to solve.
- ggm 8y agoI think the problem is not the regulation. The problem is the decline in bargaining power from the farm side, into aggressively un-regulated market concentration. The farmer cooperative buying produce to on-sell was replaced by direct sale to the supermarket and logistics costs pushed back on the farmer. All in search of a 1c a litre difference. Please don't blame regulation for what is unequal market forces.
- tomohawk 8y agoThe government mandates that the farmers sell through these middlement, at prices that are set by the government (and gamed by the middlemen). This is a government caused problem. You're right that the government should instead be focused on boosting competition and supressing cronyism, but its been, what, 85 years and they're still pushing the same thing?