To: frankw1900 who wrote (21493 ) 12/25/2003 9:41:54 AM From: Lane3 Respond to Frank, you said: Much is said in this area about the bad effect free trade can have on, for example, US or European farmers. It's said they cannot compete with products from low wage countries unless they are subsidized. The accurate description is that they can not stay in business growing and selling the same product. They either must become more efficient or produce a different, or higher margin product. The effect tariffs and especially subsidies have on folk in poor countries is devastating. Most folk in these places are employed in agriculture. The N American and European subsidies keep the world price of commodities such as wheat low. A farmer in Nigeria still has to produce to meet the world price if he is to sell his harvest and, generally speaking, he can't, because the billions $ subsidies in the foreign countries has pushed the price in the city too low. Therefore the Nigerian farmer can't make any money, can't borrow, can't reinvest in improvements, has no margin for error, thus cannot innovate, and is generally kept at subsistence level. (This was done so the middle class could beggar its children and get real estate rich in the process, but that's another topic).
