Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Trade barriers blamed for high food prices

It’s becoming more popular in the U.S. to consider trade protectionism in the name of “fair” trade and alleged worker protection; The Democrats have justified a block a of free trade deal with Colombia under such dubious reasons. Yet, even the U.N. has recently admitted that trade barriers, and in a particular-- food prices, have an adverse effect on world food prices and the world’s poor. In the long run, trade protectionism and government subsidies to hand picked industries do more harm than good.