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by afew
French Agriculture Minister, Michel Barnier, told the Financial Times a good one yesterday.
FT.com / In depth - Europe’s CAP the ‘answer’ to food crisis While critics of the CAP prepare to use surging food prices and threats of shortages to seek freer trade in agriculture, Mr Barnier told the Financial Times that, on the contrary, the developing world should draw inspiration from Europe and form self-sufficient regional agricultural blocs funded with a redirection of development aid. The FT, of course, promptly showed what a perfect example of good old British free-trade + City financial capitalism attitudes it is (though, you know, why should it change?). Says an editorial: FT.com / In depth - Barnier’s barriers
My word, a red rag to the British Bull. (Plus a certain amount of British bull: the Doha Round has already practically failed, and placing the "blame" on France would be patently ridiculous).
A Lex column also gives advice on how to approach investment in farming rationally. Land prices are rising, it says, and that's because food prices are rising. Well, I never.
FT.com / Lex / Consumer & Retail - Agricultural land But now, the phrase “bull market” has a literal resonance, as hedge fund managers get their Tod’s loafers mucky and buy up swathes of land. The theory is that the commodity boom has transformed the economics of agriculture. Please note that this is not about food prices getting too high for large parts of the world's population to get enough to eat, but about a "commodity boom" (booms are good, right?). This is not about, hey, growing wheat may make more money this year than a few years ago, but "transformed the economics of agriculture" hype. OK, Lex goes on to say buying land in developed economies is "a speculative punt" on food prices continuing to rise, which sounds about right. Russia's a better bet, according to him, because there's room for improvement:
After decades of collective ownership, productivity is appalling (psst, Lex, after nearly two decades of liberalised free-enterprise capitalism, things haven't got any better?). But to get back to Barnier. Personally, I think the guy's a drip. But what's in the idea of regional common agricultural policies? I'm not thinking of a copy of the CAP, which needs thorough reform. But free trade is likely to enrich those who are in a dominating position while developing plantation colonialism in countries that are currently suffering. What's needed is local development to allow, first and foremost, food self-sufficiency, secondly, local trade in cash crops. How local is local? What kind of authorities (and there Barnier's case seems weak to me, because he seems to ignore the difficulty) could organize, finance, and enforce a regional policy? What would the outlines of such a policy be? |
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Bull and Barnier | 11 comments (11 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
Bull and Barnier | 11 comments (11 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
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