Re: Balance of payments...

On Fri, 19 Oct 2007, Islander wrote:

Jean Paul wrote:

"John Galt" <whoisjohngalt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:13higgkdh0b0gc4@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Islander" <nospam@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:EfqdnayCHJfBoYTanZ2dnUVZ_hmtnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
In the sometimes bizarre world of right wing finance, we are seeing increasing desperation in the search for good news. Last week, for example, the Commerce Department reported a drop in the trade deficit reported in the Investor's Business Daily as follows:

"Rousing gains for U.S. exports helped narrow the August trade deficit by 2.4% to $57.6 billion from $59 billion in July, the Commerce Department said Thursday. Wall Street expected little change.

"U.S. exports grew 0.4% to $138.34 billion, while imports fell 0.4% to $195.92 billion."

While they noted that this might be partly due to the shaky greenback, they continued:

"Still, the deficit's decline means that trade is adding to overall U.S. growth, offsetting a slowing domestic economy."

Meanwhile, we note that the Department of Agriculture reports record levels of foreign sales of farm products. A good thing, right?

Let's take cotton, for example. The following was reported in the Wall Street Journal.

"In 2005 cotton subsidies totaled $3.3 billion, up from $30 million in 1995, according to the Environmental Working Group, which tracks U.S. subsidies. This industrial policy primarily benefits large corporate farms and their wealthy owners. Of the $19.1 billion that EWG says was paid out over that decade, the top 10% of cotton-subsidy recipients got more than 80%, or almost $15.5 billion. The bottom 80% of recipients had to make do with $1.4 billion. This is a brazen wealth transfer to fat cats from the tax-paying middle class.

"Because the subsidies eliminate risk and reward production, they also create a glut on world markets. The main culprit is the loan rate. Growers borrow from the government at 52 cents per pound of cotton and pay back their loans at the lower world price. So they produce without regard to market conditions. As production increases, prices are further depressed, but no sweat for the grower. He's capturing the spread on his loan plus his counter-cyclical payments. No wonder the U.S. exports 70% to 80% of the cotton it grows, and world prices always run well below the government's high "target" price of 72 cents."

So, what is going on here? The Republican advocates of free market economy are subsidizing the large cotton growers who then export 41% of their production at prices that depress the world market. If you go to the whole report by the Environmental Working Group, one can begin to learn what the WSJ left out. The result of this subsidy and corresponding export of cotton (in addition to looking good on the trade balance bottom line) are:

"In 2003, the top 46 recipients of cotton subsidies, mostly farm corporations, each received over a millions dollars, while 80 percent of cotton producers received less than $3,000...more than 60 percent of farmers collect no subsidies at all.

"This skewed payment distribution is harming our rural communities. Generous payments to large farms, argue some, contribute to a hike in land prices and facilitate buy-outs of small farms...Small farmers can't expand or remain competitive and young farmers can't get into the business. All of this is pushing family farmers off the land."

But, the damage is not just to small US farmers:

"The corresponding dip in world prices has a significant impact on cotton-dependent developing countries.

"According to U.N. figures, in 2002 the average cost for a U.S. farmer to produce a pound of cotton was 86 cents. However, their cotton was exported at 37 cents-43 percent the cost of production. The 57 percent difference was paid by U.S. taxpayers and the impact was felt by cotton farmers unable to compete with artificially deflated prices. Oxfam estimates that cotton was produced at a net loss to the United States that year, with the amount of subsidies-$3.9 billion-exceeding the value of cotton produced by around 20 percent. Despite the fact that the United States is a high-cost producer on the global stage, low-cost producers such as Brazil and West Africa are unable to compete with the high level of subsidies that push prices to record lows.

"Subsidies in relatively wealthy countries," writes John Baffes, a senior agricultural economist at the World Bank, "depress global prices and cut into the livelihoods of millions."

Care to guess where most cotton is grown? Texas grows nearly 30% of all US production. Nearly half of US production is in the Southeastern US. 86% is grown in red states.

And has that increased in the last seven years, or remained stable? If you're going to pin that on the current admin, you have to show that it's a change to previous policy, do you not? (I suspect the policy hasn't changed much since LBJ, but I would be very surprised to hear that such subsidies were disproportionately increased during this administration.)

The majority of US ag subsidies go to corn growing states. The biggest obstacles to fixing that issue are Charles Grassley and Tom Harkin. Subsidies are bad policy, but they're a bipartisan bad policy.

JG


The next time that you hear Republicans complain about farm subsidies, remind them of the hypocrisy of the Bush administration: Their free market ideology seems to only be imposed on the little guy. Large corporations and the wealthy get federal help to screw everyone else in the world!

Oh yes, one more thing. That reduction in the trade deficit? A reduction of all of $1.4B. Could that have something to do with cotton subsidies of $3.3B?



The thing that impresses me is what I heard not too long ago. Someone said that there really are not two parties, but just one with two different names. Proof? Look how many policies one party reverses that were passed by the opposing party. Usually none.

And in the case of the present administration, the Repubs had it all for 6 years (Congress and the White House not to mention the Supreme Court)....and not a single (that I am aware of) policy or Democratic legislation was reversed.

JP


You have got to be kidding. Reversing the policies of the opposing administration has been typical first actions of a new administration. Remember the ABC policies of the Bush administration (Anything But Clinton). There were dozens, if not hundreds of actions by the Clinton administration that were reversed in the first few months of the Bush administration.

Most people think of the environmental policies that were reversed, but there were much more serious actions, not the least of which was the abandonment of Clinton efforts in the Israeli/Palestinian problem.

The desperate efforts of the Republicans seem to now be focused on claiming that political parties are all the same and that government is bad. Well, they certainly proved it for the Republicans, but the record of the Democrats looks pretty good in comparison!

I agree 100%. Republicans have very poor memories on things that put them in a poor light.
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Relevant Pages

  • Re: Balance of payments...
    ... "Because the subsidies eliminate risk and reward production, they also create a glut on world markets. ... Growers borrow from the government at 52 cents per pound of cotton and pay back their loans at the lower world price. ... As production increases, prices are further depressed, but no sweat for the grower. ...
    (soc.retirement)
  • Re: Balance of payments...
    ... Let's take cotton, for example. ... "Because the subsidies eliminate risk and reward production, ... As production increases, prices are further ...
    (soc.retirement)
  • Re: Balance of payments...
    ... "Because the subsidies eliminate risk and reward production, they also create a glut on world markets. ... Growers borrow from the government at 52 cents per pound of cotton and pay back their loans at the lower world price. ... As production increases, prices are further depressed, but no sweat for the grower. ...
    (soc.retirement)
  • Re: Balance of payments...
    ... Let's take cotton, for example. ... "Because the subsidies eliminate risk and reward production, ... As production increases, prices are further depressed, ...
    (soc.retirement)
  • Re: Balance of payments...
    ... Let's take cotton, for example. ... "Because the subsidies eliminate risk and reward production, ... As production increases, prices are further ...
    (soc.retirement)
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