Fair Trade

[El_Machinae]

A lot of people are failing to realise that (even with power imbalance), both parties benefit from free trade. But, I'm not prepared to explain it right now.

I would rather give a little more to 3rd world charity.

SO ... do you? Do you give 20% of your food budget to charity?

 

[cairo140]

The fair trade that exists in our world is not FAIR trade. Although the name itself is a tautology (naturally, FAIR trade should be FAIR), it is not the case.

In real life, a fair trade system just benefits the country with the greater attrition and stronger domestic system. See the Canada-US softwood lumber crisis. Even though a situation was negotiated under the principles of "fair trade," the United States won outright because they had less to lose.

Fair trade is like communism. Good on paper; flawed in practice. Either free trades or uniform tariffs are better.

 

[amadeus]

And on the flip side, the much more powerful US economy would be able to sell in an African nation far easier than an African could sell in the US, thus overpowering the local economy with their cheaper and superior goods, and driving local companies out of buisness thus dominating the market. A developing nation exposed to a Western economy without tariffs would become an economic colony.

That says it all, really.

 

[WillJ]

No, I do not support fair trade. Trade must be unfair for me to support it.

 

[WillJ]

Now for my serious post:

Free trade all the way.

The only reason free trade isn't fair at present is because it isn't really free trade.

Agreed. The aforementioned American agricultural subsidies are a good example.

Both parties benefit from free trade. While HawkeyeGS has good intentions, he is commiting billions of third worlders to horrible deaths resulting from economic isolation.

 

[JerichoHill]

what willj said

again, what we have today aint free trade

 

[CruddyLeper]

Free trade = exploitation

Fair Trade = Fair trade.

I invite all of those supporting free trade to go and work in a Chinese textile mill.

Just for one shift. 20 hours. For about $2 pay.

 

[Eli]

In my office there is both fairtrade tea and coffee and the run of the mill other stuff. In all honesty, given the choice, I'll always pick Nescafe, I just prefer it, but just because I say that doesn't mean I'm not for helping out the small farmers, I just find their coffee too dry

In short, you use an inferiour product, encourage others to use an inferior product and help keep the manufacturers of said inferior product in bussiness, thus perpetuating a situation where people use inferior products.

I invite all of those supporting free trade to go and work in a Chinese textile mill.

Just for one shift. 20 hours. For about $2 pay.

I invite all those supporting "fair" trade to become, for a month, an uneducated Chinese villager that does not work in a textile mill.

 

[silver 2039]

That says it all, really.

Ask yourself why those goods are superior. It is because the US has better means of production espically in terms of technology, which simply are not avaliable to African farmers. Thus the US will continually outproduce and outpreform local competiton.

 

[Sidhe]

Ask yourself why those goods are superior. It is because the US has better means of production espically in terms of technology, which simply are not avaliable to African farmers. Thus the US will continually outproduce and outpreform local competiton.

Like most first world countries though it'll also force unfair trade deals on poorer countries who have no means of disputing them in order to maximise it's own wealth, which is where fair trade comes in. Trying to balance the double standards most wealthy nations enjoy. It's a bad thing only if you don't want to see a rise in standards for the poorest nations, who would want that though?

 

[Nobody]

Free trade is the best way to go. If lowers the price of goods for consumers while increasing the quality of the goods. The people who can produce the best goods get the best pay. It hurts some people (inefficent american farmers) but most people win.

(Americans get to eat cheap delicious new zealand lamb and beef, New Zealanders who are best at making it get the most money. Losers American Farmers, Winners American consumers and New Zealand Farmers)

 

[Sidhe]

Free trade is the best way to go. If lowers the price of goods for consumers while increasing the quality of the goods. The people who can produce the best goods get the best pay. It hurts some people (inefficent american farmers) but most people win.

(Americans get to eat cheap delicious new zealand lamb and beef, New Zealanders who are best at making it get the most money. Losers American Farmers, Winners American consumers and New Zealand Farmers)

In other words the rich get richer and the poor(ineffeicient lazy Mexican barbarian farmers) Get poorer because countries get trade subsidies they don't need or deserve to trade with them instead of the Mexicans, everybody wins? Your a capitalist pig dog right The system works the system is unfair, everybodies happy!

 

[ComradeDavo]

And on the flip side, the much more powerful US economy would be able to sell in an African nation far easier than an African could sell in the US, thus overpowering the local economy with their cheaper and superior goods, and driving local companies out of buisness thus dominating the market. A developing nation exposed to a Western economy without tariffs would become an economic colony.

But if the people in that African company can not sell their own goods, then they have no money to buy those American goods anyways.

 

[Truronian]

I support Free trade, and am slightly wary of fair trade. That said, I think it is a good step away from the current unfair/unfree trade we've got going on at the moment, so I stick to Fair trade coffee (altough I can't stand the fair trade chocolate). I voted don't know.

 

[Pyrite]

I love buying coffee from the zapatismos.

Up the fair trade.

 

[aussieboy]

We ought to remove all agricultural tarriffs. That way, people from all over the world can sell their goods, with the only thing affecting price being quality of the goods, not where it originated.

 

[Arcadian83]

This is a detailed explaination of why buying over-priced coffee won't help and in fact will possibly hurt 3rd-world producers.

Markets are a force of nature.
Creating economic policy without heeding the rules which markets tend to abide by is like designing an airplane without considering the laws of physics.

If it's of any consolation, I'm against tariffs and subsidies for the sake of unnatural market advantage even more than I am against Fair Trade.

Fair Trade is like reverse discrimination. Seeing a problem, and instead of fixing it, trying to create an equal and opposite anti-problem. The anti-problem can become its own problem.

 

[Norlamand]

Free market, free trade.............F! fair trade.