Chad_Small...
Niger is NOT like Somalia or Zimbabwe, where people in power have been known to hold food from their own starving citizens.
Snelling, a Red Cross worker in Niger writes:
“Walking around the village, it is again clear that the problems here are far more complex than a straightforward shortage of food. I pass a stall where skewers of beef grill slowly over a charcoal fire. A bag of flour sits inside the door of a local trader. There is food around, but another nuance that demands understanding here is that Niger, like everywhere else, has its own haves and have-nots…. According to reliable reports, the drought last year did not erase as much of the annual harvest as people think. Natural causes played their part, but so did the remorseless pressures of the open market. ” Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4742301.stm
Again, I agree that in some instances African governments are responsible for their people's misery, but in the case of Niger, it is not the government. It is imperfections in the market that have caused hunger. Imperfections happen - supply and demand are not perfect. Things lag, and market distortions take time to correct. Unfortunately, in this case, the distortion is not being corrected by the market quickly enough to stop children from dying. Hence, my conclusion - complete free markets are not the best route for Niger at this time.
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Regarding subsidies.... they are clearly leading to lower and more irregular agricultural profits in Africa and the rest of the world. When western governments ARTIFICIALLY lower the cost to their own farmers to produce a good, it drives down international prices (econ 101). Farmers in Africa cannot compete with these ARTIFICIALLY low prices. They cannot sell abroad; they cannot even compete in their own localities. Talk about market manipulation!
A true capitalist would push for free trade, allowing the world market to be guided by the same laissez-faire economics that you espouse. This would force inefficient American and EU farmers to be more competitive. If you believe true capitalism is good for our national economy by principle, shouldn’t it also be right for our international market? Hence, both you and I should agree that American, EU, and Japanese agricultural subsidies should be lowered.
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Hi
Chad pointed out your blog to me. Had to add a few words about farmers. The US does not artificially lower their prices to drive down international markets in order to starve children in Africa. American farmers do not compete with those in Niger. There would be no competition since farms in the US are so much more efficient. They produce tons of food with a labor laborers and a few gallons of fuel.
US and EU farmers are not inefficient. They are too efficient to allow food to be sold on the open market in Africa. We mess up the system with subsidies; we pay US farmers not to sell their food or we would put every farmer in Africa out of business. Unfortunately that practice does contribute to starving and suffering since we could feed them. Very sad that the market cannot work freely. I agree with you on sub subsidies though. In fact I think they should all be abolished.
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