The thing is that if you are subsidizing the other end you are still interfering with the market.
I’ll bet you would dislike the government pulling back more and leaving even more to the morally bankrupt to abuse even less.
The government should be a strong regulator as a counterbalance as corporatations do not suffer repercussions for the worst externalities they produce.
OP’s comment isn’t directly exclusive with stopping subsidies, though. I could agree with not subsidising corn but not having to regulate a fairly harmless product.
I think government should be a strong regulator in terms of breaking up monopolies. I also agree that the subsidies impact the free market. It’s a bit of a complicated subject because price of food being volatile has often led to revolutions in the past.
So governments have a lot of incentive to subsidize food staples like corn or dairy. Without the subsidies we may see a sharp increase in inflation, at least temporarily. And whichever administration carries this out is virtually guaranteed to lose the next election.
Perhaps a better solution is instead of subsidies, we have a sort of basic command economy for staples while still allowing a private market for luxury food items. Not sure. Haven’t thought about this much.
I don’t like subsidies because groups that get fat off government’s teat end up buying up our politicians and we start looking more like China where private & state power become intertwined. But maybe it’s a necessary evil when it comes to food, I’m not sure.
The thing is that if you are subsidizing the other end you are still interfering with the market.
I’ll bet you would dislike the government pulling back more and leaving even more to the morally bankrupt to abuse even less.
The government should be a strong regulator as a counterbalance as corporatations do not suffer repercussions for the worst externalities they produce.
OP’s comment isn’t directly exclusive with stopping subsidies, though. I could agree with not subsidising corn but not having to regulate a fairly harmless product.
I think government should be a strong regulator in terms of breaking up monopolies. I also agree that the subsidies impact the free market. It’s a bit of a complicated subject because price of food being volatile has often led to revolutions in the past.
So governments have a lot of incentive to subsidize food staples like corn or dairy. Without the subsidies we may see a sharp increase in inflation, at least temporarily. And whichever administration carries this out is virtually guaranteed to lose the next election.
Perhaps a better solution is instead of subsidies, we have a sort of basic command economy for staples while still allowing a private market for luxury food items. Not sure. Haven’t thought about this much.
I don’t like subsidies because groups that get fat off government’s teat end up buying up our politicians and we start looking more like China where private & state power become intertwined. But maybe it’s a necessary evil when it comes to food, I’m not sure.
A good example is Crisco, a 100% transfat cooking oil that corporations pushed for decades.