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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bert Herman who wrote (108952)	5/1/2000 9:18:00 PM
From: Joe NYC	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1577228

Bert, The only way our farmers, even with a certain amount of subsidies, can earn a living is by increasing production, which leads, because of the laws of the markets, to even lower prices. You are starting with a premise that people who are farmers today should still be farmers tomorrow, and that the food has to be grown locally. Which are both false premises. I think you mentioned that you were from Holland. Well, I have been to Holland, and the whole country stinks (literally). I am not sure why such a successful country in all the fields of commerce, industry and trade insists on producing more cow manure than probably any country on earth. I think this same evolution is happening in the US also. And thanks to free trade, this overproduction is dumped in the rest of the world There is no such thing as overproduction under free market. It is always a temporary phenomenon. An overproduction causes lower prices, lower prices force some producers out of business, which then lowers production in the future until production matches demand. You are not helping poor countries a lot by giving them free access to our food market -if even a small farmer here can't compete, how would a micro farmer of Bolivia compete? A micro farmer in Bolivia probably starts with an expectation of income for his labor that is a fraction of the expectation of farmer in Holland. Land prices are also a fraction of lant prices in Holland. Additional labor that the farmer needs to hire is a fraction of the price of labor in Europe. This tiny income makes the local Bolivian a rich man in Bolivia, while the same income leaves a farmer in Europe poor, dependent on governemnt handouts. Looking at unemployment in Holland, there seems to be a lobor shortage, so I am sure the poor surplus farmer can find a job quickly. The result? The governement of Lowlands does not spend money subsidising this inefficient farmer, but instead collects taxes from his new job, leaving the government with more money, which can be used to cut taxes. The consumers in Europe get the food at extremely low market prices, saving them enough money to buy an extra Heinneken, Phillips DVD player or a Thunderbird CPU. This newly rich man in Bolivia can use his new disposable income to buy some of the goodies made in Holland, Austin or Dresden. Joe

To: Bert Herman who wrote (108952)	5/1/2000 10:50:00 PM
From: TimF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1577228

OT You are not helping poor countries a lot by giving them free access to our food market -if even a small farmer here can't compete, how would a micro farmer of Bolivia compete? - It should be a lot wiser if we stop dumping our surplus production in those countries. This should largely prevent drama's like Eritrea, etc., because lokal trade should simply exist, while it is completely absent now. Some farmers from poor countries can compete. In some cases they cant because our markets are not open. Famine in Africa is not caused by US farmers driving the local farmers out of production. It is usually caused by either war, or by corupt opressive governments. Drought is also a factor but without the other too most countries could make it through a drought. Bullets, land mines and stupid and/or opressive government officals controling the food market are much greater disincentives then American compitition. Tim