Posted by
Andrews on Tuesday, June 03, 2008 6:50:49 PM
I am rather busy right now, so lack the time to explore this at great length, but, given the incredible rise in food prices, and the demands of our idiotic biofuels programs, is there any reason, other than to buy votes, to continue agricultural price supports?
I am sure some farmer will write in to explain at great length that farming is so different from every other business and that it is a noble calling and essential to life, and on and on... All of which could be said of so many businesses. But farmers are very good at PR to keep their particular pork alive, so I fully expect at least one such post.
Well, I will wait and see. And when time allows I will look into this topic at much greater length.
ADDENDUM
I still don't have the time to write on this at length, but I do have two things to say.
First, just because I say the good conditions for agriculture argue for removing price supports does not mean I otherwise support them. I am opposed to subsidies, subsidized loan, and price supports under any circumstances. My point is that they are even more silly now.
Second, when I say farm economic are not unique, I mean it. What are the supposedly unique attributes of farming? That it requires large capital outlays, is mainly financed by loans that are paid off at the end of the production cycle only to take another loan, and that it has a long production cycle and uncertain outcomes? Unfortunately for farmers, that also describes movie production perfectly, as does large scale commercial property development. Or that they are weather dependent to a unique degree? I think ski and beach resorts would disagree with that being unique as well, and so would most construction firms.
Farming is a business like any other. I know they is a long tradition, going back, through Jefferson, to silly georgic poetry from republican Rome, of ascribing some virtue to people by virtue of being a farmer, but the truth is farming is a business like any other. And like any business it should live or die on its own. Nothing about farming makes government meddling work better there than elsewhere. If government meddling is bad for business, it is bad for farming too.
Of course, all those Iowa primary votes and the huge number of farm states all looking probably means my great grand children will still be paying people not to farm, but I can hope, can't I?