Posted on 03/15/2017 11:39:50 AM PDT by TBP
There are a lot of economists — many from Ivy league schools — who work hard to “improve the situation” in third world countries like Haiti. The World Bank, The IMF, plenty of other organizations. These economists have big ideas on how to make life better.
Unfortunately, these are the sorts of economists who have no grasp of “supply and demand”.
In other words, they are not really economists. They are just evil tools of Satan who want to exploit the poor people around the world. And if some of the starving kids can be distributed through child prostitution networks, so much the better.
Are you CERTAIN that they're trying to make anyone's life better, other than their own?
same issues
Sorry my sarcasm and scorn was not dripping enough. These people are looters, pure and simple. The media tries to pretend that they have good intentions, but I say they have nothing of the kind. They are 100% out for themselves. The Clinton Foundation is a prime example.
If food must be gifted, there must be some sort of metric or algorithm that would let the aid agencies know how much can be given away directly to help the poor versus how much should be given to the Haitian farmers to subsidize what they need to sell to survive.
It could just be bad juju!
I agree that we suffer from crony capitalism but I also think that protectionism has its place.
Wouldn’t you think the geniuses from Wharton and Stanford could get together and figure out how much food grain a nation needs, subtract the amount the country can produce itself, and then supply just enough to feed the population? That would keep prices stable and still keep people from starving. Mybe even reduce the aid level by 10 percent, just to make sure the internal market remains strong.
Then work to make sure the grain gets to its intended recipients and doesn’t go into the warehouse of some tinhorn warlord.
Sounds like central planning.
Even better would be if the food were bought from the Haitian farmers, that way both the suppliers and the recipients would be better off.
If crops from the US really have to be “dumped” then give them to the food pantries. Or to countries that have suffered so much crop loss that the farmers have nothing to sell.
I remember reading that foreign donors must bribe Haitian officials (?) in order to bring the donations through the ports and distribute them. If that is the case, it is another example of how foreign aid can perpetuate corruption and poverty.
I have said for a long time that we need a new model for humanitarianism. When every country we help remains poor and gets poorer we are doing something wrong.
Most times the Elites who distribute the food skim off the top and then give “aid” to relatives and friends and the poor are not benefitted but farmers and merchants lose money and slowly disappear so there is no longer an economy.
You know most of the foreign aid goes to the Elites and it seems the more we give the more we are hated.
Have relatives who are Rice farmers in Arkansas - we have so much surplus rice, the grain bins are full and there is no where to store it. Last fall at Riceland in Stuttgart, they were dumping the crop outside next to the silos. Has to be a better way to manage the situation.
Probably better that than just dumping grain into the market and flooding out the locals. Kind of removes any market incentive for them to produce.
How can that be if the planet is overpopulated and global famine is coming due to Climate Change. The US alone probably could feed 3/4 of world at this point.
I like your idea. It’s well thought out. Mine was just stream of consciousness typing as things were bouncing around in my head.
Excess food, especially grains, should be converted for long-term storage.
Rice can be stored for 10+ years.
Wheat can be stored for 25+ years.
In war or major natural disaster, food is worth more than gold.
Crop dumping is one of the most pernicious forms of U.S. foreign aid. Crop dumping is the transfer of massive amounts of food into an economy for free or at a below market price to feed “starving children.” The intention is lovely, but the policy carrying out the intention is abhorrent.
Thanks for showing just how the USA welfare racket works...
bingo
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