Re: SUSTAINABLE agriculture
Bob MacGregor (rdmacgregor@gov.pe.ca)
Mon, 22 Mar 1999 16:49:28 -0400
It is also international wealth redistribution. We may think that LDC labour is being exploited because they are paid so much less than North American or European workers, but they consider it development. When a country's currency gets too valuable, it becomes cheaper to buy things than to produce them. This slowly brings the world to equilibrium.
If, on the other hand, we prefer to hold onto what we have, we can try to raise trade barriers to imports (usually while still keeping the export lines open!). This isn't helpful; the pressure just builds, and other industries are hurt in the process.
If any industry isn't profitable it will go away by itself (true even when in competition with subsidized products, of course). Clearly this hasn't happened to US agriculture. There are a lot fewer farmers than their used to be, but agriculture is still seeing holding its own.
In the end, the quality of the land is more important than the price of the labour -- and North America has a whole lot of good land.
BOB
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