tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6762928.post111993421279093624..comments2024-01-03T05:23:36.046-08:00Comments on The Citizens: CAP Reply (from our French correspondent)Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6762928.post-1120344751170069822005-07-02T15:52:00.000-07:002005-07-02T15:52:00.000-07:00Hvis man absolut skal skrive paa fremed sprog, sku...Hvis man absolut skal skrive paa fremed sprog, skulle man vaere saa venlige at oversaet den ogsaa. <BR/><BR/>Translation: If one absolutely must write in a foreign language, one should be so kind as to translate it as well. Because the original posting was in French I may miss important aspects of the argument.<BR/><BR/>Now, re the CAP and agricultural subsidies: I'm not just in favor of scrapping the CAP. I'm in favor of scrapping all agricultural subsidies everywhere - world wide! The United States is a major sinner in this regard. As is Australia and most industrialized countries. The U.K. is the exception and for that reason I believe they are 100% entitled to their "rebate." What's more, the Dutch should get a rebate too! <BR/><BR/>As for the supposed reforms. Tinkering around with the details does not change the fact that hundreds of millions of Europeans are being robbed to subsidize the inflated economics of a few (not just French but mostly French) farmers. <BR/><BR/>The usual argument in favor of keeping agricultural subisidies is that having a domestic food supply is a vital security issue...There are three major flaws with this reasoning with regard to the EU. <BR/><BR/>First, this argument was made in the UK in the 1840s when they eliminated the infamous "Corn Laws." Agricultural elites insisted that Britain would be vulnerable to starvation in the next war they faught. After elimination of the "Corn Laws," Britain faught 3 wars against major European powers: The Crimean War against Russia, World War I against Germany and World War II against Germany. In the later two, the German navy attempted to besiege Britain in an effort to cut off the food supply. In neither case did this result in anything other than rationing. In both cases, Britain eventually won the war because of its industrial capacity (industrial capacity greatly improved because of the elimination of ag subsidies). <BR/><BR/>Second, the EU is so big that it is nearly impossible to besiege and cut off from imported food stuffs. There are tens of thousands of miles of coast line, not to mention thousands of miles of land borders. <BR/><BR/>Third, eliminating the CAP would not eliminate EU agricultural production. It would eliminate over priced, inefficient FRENCH ag production. But Polish, Hungarian and other new member states' agricultural sectors would continue to thrive! <BR/><BR/>Even if the CAP were "reformed" it would still represent a massive transfer of wealth from the urban majority in the EU to the rural minority with a disproportionate share of that transfer going to pampered, French farmers who depend entirely on the subsidy for their economic welfare. <BR/><BR/>The French should not fear the Polish Plumber. But the arrogant and grasping French agricultural intersts should fear his country cousin, the Polish Farmer. <BR/><BR/>Now, as for the argument that the CAP is justified because it enables European (mainly French) farmers to establish themselves in a niche market of high quality products: This is a misunderstanding of what a market is. If the high end, organic etc, products truely have found a niche in the world ag market, then no subsidy would be needed at all! The market would set a price and if it were really a desired product, state subsidy would not be required. <BR/><BR/>So what is the real reason French people who aren't farmers like the CAP? I suggest it is because the CAP allows the French government to transfer to the costs of its out dated and inefficient agricultural subsidy system to more industrialized countries like the Germans, Dutch and British. The British wouldn't pay for French largess and so they got their rebate. The Germans are gradually realizing that with Poland in the EU now, they don't need to continue spoiling the French ag sector with free cash. <BR/><BR/>Eliminate the CAP! The could free up no less than 40% of its budget for use on other more worth while things like rural economic development (invest in the rural areas in ways that do more than just inflate standards of living for the short term), structural fund projects for areas of high unemployment, improved infra structure for new member states etc. <BR/><BR/><A></A><A></A>// posted by<A><B> </B></A><A HREF="http://thecitizens.blogspot.com/" REL="nofollow" TITLE="">Raised By Republicans</A>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6762928.post-1120004933080224282005-06-28T17:28:00.000-07:002005-06-28T17:28:00.000-07:00I don’t have strong feelings about the CAP. It is ...I don’t have strong feelings about the CAP. It is a European problem. Farm Subsidizes, however, are a global problem and have long been a bone of contention between the U.S. and Europe, or more precisely, the U.S. and France. I remember 15 years ago a Frenchman sneering at me “C’est vous qui pousse le GATT.”<BR/><BR/>Bell Curve’s synopsis of what our European guest wrote, is accurate. The only think I might add is her admitting that the CAP was incoherent in many ways because it encouraged production of agricultural goods while fixing quotas and removing land from cultivation. She seems to imply that since reforms, this situation has improved. <BR/><BR/>She also implies something even more interesting to me. She says that the idea behind the current CAP is to allow farmers to remain competitive while imposing prices controls above global market prices. Then she points out, and this is interesting to me as a French wine buff (I will explain later), that the idea is to position European goods in the high quality end of the market. So they justify the increased prices by encouraging organic farming. Basically, what she is saying is that Europe has staked out a marketing position. I see this as a smart political move because it puts Europe in direct opposition to the U.S. market position as a large, industrial producer who uses genetic engineering practices. In effect, it tells the world that they have a choice- the large fake food produced by Americans or the wholesome, healthy food produced by us.<BR/><BR/>Her personal opinion is that the British exemption is not tenable because new members entering the market will need to be allocated CAP funds and the idea that a nation is part of a community, but exempt from paying into it counter to the very notion of solidarity or community. The Brits, and she doesn’t say this, but you can see it in her thinking, benefit from the agricultural goods of others, and thus should pay for them. And should you sit around deciding who benefits from what and therefore who should pay? This isn’t how you run a community. She ends with a little joke saying that basically, if you want to make Blair’s hair stand on end, all you have to do is say “European social model”<BR/><BR/>I mentioned French wine earlier. A friend sent me an article by an American commentator who suggested that the French should take all their excess grape juice, and rather than turning it into industrial alcohol, sell it as cheap wine on the global market. My friend was interested in my take on that. I pointed out to him that there is a global wine glut, so the French dumping more cheap juice into the mix wouldn’t help the overall price for wines. More than that, the French wanted to maintain their reputation as the makers of high quality wines. And you can’t do that if you sell swill. It dilutes your market position and forces you to lower the prices on your finer wines. <BR/><BR/>In her post, our guest mentions that agriculture is part of the European (maybe she meant French) identity, this it needed to be preserved as such. Well, that is what wine is for the French and why they take is rather seriously. Actually, most French don’t know the first thing about wine itself, but they know they are known for it and they don’t want their self image destroyed by poor quality product. And this is how they will market all their products- from tomatoes to foie gras. What this mean for the CAP, time will only tell. <BR/> <BR/><BR/><A></A><A></A>// posted by<A><B> </B></A>USWestAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com