From: Paul Cockshott (wpc@dcs.gla.ac.uk)
Date: Wed Aug 27 2008 - 03:57:07 EDT
More generally, it would be perverse if marxists were to argue for any policy that was designed to keep food prices high, and thus maximise the inefficiency of food production and depress real wages. Paul Cockshott Dept of Computing Science University of Glasgow +44 141 330 1629 www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/~wpc/reports/ -----Original Message----- From: ope-bounces@lists.csuchico.edu on behalf of GERALD LEVY Sent: Tue 8/26/2008 6:55 PM To: ope@lists.csuchico.edu Subject: [OPE] Agricultural Liberalization Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2008 10:35:01 -0400From: GDAEannounce@tufts.eduTo: gdaeannounce@tufts.eduSubject: New Paper on Agricultural Liberalization The Limited Promise of Agricultural Trade Liberalizationby Timothy A. WiseWorking Group Discussion Paper DP19, July 2008 It has become an article of faith in international trade negotiations that farmers in developing countries have much to gain from agricultural trade liberalization. This paper, written as a framework analysis for the recently published report, The Promise and the Perils of Agricultural Trade Liberalization: Lessons from Latin America, assesses the evidence for such claims. It concludes that the promise of agricultural trade liberalization is overstated, while the costs to small-scale farmers in developing countries are often high. Relying on World Bank data and analyses, United Nations trade data, and other economic modeling carried out to inform the current round of World Trade Organization negotiations, this paper shows that: Rich countries are the main beneficiaries of agricultural trade liberalization, gaining markets in both the global North and South. Only a limited number of developing countries - for example, Argentina and Brazil - can compete effectively in global markets. Most developing countries are left out of the export boom but their small-scale farmers suffer the negative effects of rising imports, as tariffs and farm supports are removed. Farm prices do not remain high for long after liberalization, as supplies, fed by rising yields and new land under cultivation, catch up to rising demand. While the current commodity boom, fueled in part by the demand for agro-fuels, may keep prices high for a few years, it is unlikely to fundamentally alter the structure of global agriculture and the long-term trends toward lower prices. The paper, along with other background papers for the report, is available at:http://ase.tufts.edu/gdae/WorkingGroupAgric.htm#papers The full report, in English with separate executive summaries in Spanish and Portuguese, is available at:http://ase.tufts.edu/gdae/WorkingGroupAgric.htmOther reports from the Working Group on Development and Environment in the Americas: Globalization and the Environment: Lessons from the Americas, July 2004:http://ase.tufts.edu/gdae/WorkingGroup.htm Foreign Investment and Sustainable Development: Lessons from the Americas, May 2008:http://ase.tufts.edu/gdae/WorkingGroup_FDI.htm For more on GDAE's Globalization and Sustainable Development Program:http://www.ase.tufts.edu/gdae/policy_research/globalization.html ___________________________________________________________________________If you would like to be removed or added to the list of people receiving periodic notices of GDAE's publications and events, please email gdae@tufts.edu or change your email subscription information on our web site at: http://www.ase.tufts.edu/gdae/mailing_list.html _______________________________________________ ope mailing list ope@lists.csuchico.edu https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/ope
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