Saturday, 09-08-08 09:29
Isn't it interesting that those at the top of the neoliberal food chain are able to sit in their cozy offices, sharing their imminent wisdom while literally millions of people on the other end of the chain are dying because of the imbalances of the so-called 'free market'?
Good idea Mr. Callahan, let's perpetuate an economic model that neglects the large majority of the world's people and makes the rest of us a soulless lot of faceless workers who spend their lives working for more stuff to make us more unhappy.
Friday, 08-08-08 14:20
***"Today, coffee growers must contend with abundant competitors, market distortions from government subsidies and other favoritism, and the legacy of colonialism and theft. That situation is certainly deplorable."
- that's put in there as an aside but it's what fair trade hinges on. Because if those situations did not exist then your so-called "free society" would not exist. Fair trade exists to overcome those obstacles by setting a price-floor (if you're such a fair trade expert you'd have made mention of that, but again you are ignorant and unwilling to know the full scope). Fair trade also only works with small farmers set up in cooperatives. You assume that these farmers own their land and that they have options otherwise. Most of them do not have options besides growing coca which in turn gets sold to crack heads like yourself.
"***The belief that any group with power - government officials, economic experts, or social activists - can establish a price that's "fairer" or "more just" than the actual market price is a fallacy that bedeviled communism for decades and it's bedeviling the fair-trade movement today."
No mention of a price floor....the fair trade price is a stable price that is not susceptible to fluctuations and gluts in the world market. Learn more, read more, stop being so arrogant. This is one situation where you have no clue what you are talking about.
VISIT A FARMER! VISIT A FARMER! VISIT A FARMER! VISIT A FARMER! VISIT A FARMER!
You have no grounds for anything you have written until you leave your little office at whatever self-important university you reside at.
Friday, 08-08-08 14:10
* Gene Callahan is an adjunct scholar with the Ludwig von Mises Institute and the author of "Economics for Real People."-----------Gene Callahan is an armchair economist. I highly recommend that he actually visit some fair trade farmers for himself instead of writing untruths due to his misinformation and ignorance.
I would also encourage anybody reading this article to try and learn the truth about fair trade. There are many unfair and untrue assumptions made in this article.
