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> if we had forced the peaches to be grown and canned (as many comments are suggesting) then that would be a different kind of waste as they'd sit in warehouses
by gblargg 6mo ago
> if we had forced the peaches to be grown and canned (as many comments are suggesting) then that would be a different kind of waste as they'd sit in warehouses while the land, resources, and labor were used to produce something people weren't buying instead of being used to produce foods they were buying.
Worse, the price would have to be lowered to bring up sales, which could put the other peach farmers into bankruptcy as well.
- Aurornis 6mo agoIf you try to force production and sale hard enough, the sale price can even go negative. If your warehouse is full of peaches nobody wants, you might be forced to sell them for negative dollars to take them away. It's either that, or you pay to have the waste management company dispose of them. So the price effectively goes negative from trying too hard to force something to happen.
- p1necone 6mo agoIf you turn all them peaches into high proof alcohol they take up significantly less space...
- MassPikeMike 6mo agoSimilarly, in 1790s America, farmers west of the Appalachians were growing plenty of corn, but because of bad roads the only feasible way to transport it to the much larger markets east of the mountains was as whiskey. When Alexander Hamilton imposed a tax on distilled spirits, the result was a "Whiskey Rebellion" in which George Washington himself rode out at the head of an army against other American citizens.
- port11 6mo agoThis type of trivia is why I found Bill Bryson’s “At Home” so entertaining. Tariff on windows? People cover them with bricks. Tariff on glass? Windows made of other materials. Tariff on… well, maybe stop designing tariffs if you can’t predict the outcome!
- gblargg 6mo agoOr Reason's Great Moments in Unintended Consequences series: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBuns9Evn1w9XhnH7vVh_7C65wJbaBECK https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBuns9Evn1w9XhnH7vVh_7C65...
- quickthrowman 6mo agoThere’s more than enough ethanol inputs already, corn.
- p1necone 6mo agoInternal combustion engines may not have tastebuds, but I do.
- xnx 6mo agoSuper-contango
- aworks 6mo agoThe price of oil going below zero during the pandemic was one of the most astounding economic events in my life. I wonder if anybody did try to instantly create some storage to take advantage of it.
- fuzzer371 6mo agoOh no. Lower costs for consumers? Oh the humanity!
- gblargg 6mo agoYes, lower prices for a while, then very high prices and little availability for a long time. Think ahead.
- tushar-r 6mo ago>Worse, the price would have to be lowered to bring up sales, which could put the other peach farmers into bankruptcy as well. We run into something similar every year here in India. One recent example [1] This year it is the Middle East crisis. Last year it was probably a glut because there was shortage the year previously. [1] https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/video-offered-rs-4-per-kg-maharashtra-farmer-dumps-25-quintals-of-tomatoes-11259831 https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/video-offered-rs-4-per-kg-ma...