How They Cheat Our Farmers

New Delhi: May 27, 2008: 0700hrs
The news has it that wheat procurement is at a record level, totaling more than 200 lakh or 20 million tones.

This brings to mind an important lesson in Economics: that we all produce in order to consume.

The farmer produces wheat alright, but wants to get rid of it in the market as soon as possible – so that he can use the proceeds to get those things he really wants.

His actual purpose in growing wheat is to buy other things.

The “results” of all his untiring “efforts” are all those goods and services he buys for his own consumption.

Thus, the great farmers of the “Green Revolution” were horribly cheated – for the market only had shoddy swadeshi stuff on offer: like Old Monkey rum.

Free international trade is the only way to ensure that we all succeed as consumers.

The socialist isolationism of the Green Revolution years actually cheated all our hardworking farmers.

There has been some improvement in the situation since – and this indicates that even a little “liberalization” is a good thing.

Why not then go the whole hog and announce free trade unilaterally?

There are no economic or political arguments against free trade.

What is actually happening today is protectionism, which, as Bastiat pointed out, is “a practice devoid of any principle”.

Any practice without principle is just a racket camouflaged as “policy”.

But every hardworking Indian is the loser – and just a handful of rich people who do not want to work hard gain, in league with corrupt politicians who, of course, do not “work” at all – but want to “generate employment”.

And, of course, they want to teach.

Stay far away from their books.