Efficiency vital to bring down food prices
by Tim Wilson, January 25, 2011
With food prices back on the international agenda largely as a consequence of weather events we were heartened to read Director General of the World Trade Organisation Pascal Lamy’s recent address on the importance of free trade to bring down prices for the world’s poor.
Throughout his career Lamy has been soft on the poverty-alleviating benefits of free trade. His term as EU negotiator defending their awful subsidy regimes were shameful. But we give him credit that since taking on the job as D-G of the WTO he has changed his tone. In fact he’s transformed himself from a spokesperson for rent-seekers to becoming one of the most forceful advocates for trade liberalisation in the world. This turn hasn’t delivered the sort of concrete results we would like to help the millions trapped in poverty, but at least the rhetoric is right.
And while Doha stalls Lamy has been giving some excellent speeches on the benefits of trade as a solution to global economic problems. And his speech to the Berlin Agriculture Minister’s Summit is no exception.
In fact Lamy highlights some truths that are too often missing in international debate.
First, free trade will increase global food supply at cheaper prices – the solution is more trade, not less.
Second, where global food supply is increasing it is because of increased efficiency and yields, not expanded land use. That matters because it means humanity is producing more with less which is both economically and environmentally sustainable.
We recommend a read of Lamy’s speech here.
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nice analysis
Does your trade interests also apply to ‘funky trunks’ merchandise mate?
Cheers and see you at the trough party!!
In the bright light of this historic moment can we assert that the Bush Administration’s neo-cons were partially right: the Middle East was ripe for a series of popular revolutions?
The western world is to blame partially for this historic moment.
This is truly people power at it’s height!
To place the blame on the corruption of particular elite families misses the crucial point. In America, the world champion of the free market, we are seeing the exact same social divisions developing: there the top 1% has taken all the profits of the nation’s supposed economic gains. The problem in Egypt is not of corrupt individuals opposed to the true realization of the free market; it’s of the space for corruption that the free market itself maintains.