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Food is cheap and available in other countries without such government largesse BECAUSE the USA keeps costs down by being the breadbasket of the world and keepi
by GauntletWizard 6y ago
Food is cheap and available in other countries without such government largesse BECAUSE the USA keeps costs down by being the breadbasket of the world and keeping continuous overproduction going.
- arcticbull 6y agoIndeed in its most blatant form it's called dumping. [1] [1] https://www.iatp.org/news/us-dumping-corn-in-canada-growers-say https://www.iatp.org/news/us-dumping-corn-in-canada-growers-...
- eru 6y agoYes, though dumping is a bit of a silly concept. Dumping is much bedeviled by economic policy makers, but it's never actually been a problem for any recipient country to get good stuff for less. Most complaints about dumping are just protectionism against lower cost producers. (Though not all, as the example with subsidies shows. But if foreign tax payers are happy to pay for cheap goods for us, who are we to complain?)
- scoopertrooper 6y agoYes if dumping was a continuous practice then we'd all be living off the largess of the dumpers, but it's a temporary practice used to drive out competition before jacking up the prices once dominance is restored. De Beers provide an excellent case study in the application of this tactic.
- eru 6y agoThat tactic never really works in big, open markets. See eg Herbert Dow and the Bromine cartel. https://fee.org/articles/herbert-dow-and-predatory-pricing/ https://fee.org/articles/herbert-dow-and-predatory-pricing/ (or any other write-up on the story that you prefer.)