Quote:
Originally Posted by rj1
You can always tell when you're reading a person that doesn't know what being threatened with a gun by a mob is like.
And that's the ultimate reason for these countries' food policies. Prof. Cowen is seriously living in a fantasy world that does not exist, countries where people don't really care about the free market, don't have a lot of money, just want to eat, and if they don't eat, they can overwhelm the rulers in a coup and start killing the government officials responsible for the shortages. Is that rational? Of course not, but it's what would still happen and some populist could use the temperament of the locals to his advantage.
Doesn't he realize that most of the places he is talking about, the rule of law is not just assumed to be always true?
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So governments undertake policies that may induce shortages so that they can avoid mob action when the shortages they created happen?
Freer markets have demonstrated time and time again that they can provide, although the timing of transition is critical, and this oped doesn't call for draconian timing. You can look to the beginnings of Chinese capitalism through agriculture and the nearly spontaneous abandonment of communal farming.