[Daveinyork]

Smuggling milk?

[the invisib1e hand]

I'm not saying subsidies are by themselves a good idea. I am saying that they may be a bad idea that alleviates the effects of lots of other bad ideas (read: the ridiculous litany of frivolous regulations).

Example: OJ. US producers can't be expected to compete with Brazil; the regulatory costs here are too high. But a way to alleviate the regulatory costs is with a subsidy. It's rank redistribution, but that's the way it is.

Before people automatically dismiss subsidies as a payoff to farmers, they might want to consider the rationale for them to begin with, as it might be legitimate under the circumstances.