this post was submitted on 31 Aug 2023
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I think government should be a strong regulator in terms of breaking up monopolies. I also agree that the subsidies impact the free market. It's a bit of a complicated subject because price of food being volatile has often led to revolutions in the past.
So governments have a lot of incentive to subsidize food staples like corn or dairy. Without the subsidies we may see a sharp increase in inflation, at least temporarily. And whichever administration carries this out is virtually guaranteed to lose the next election.
Perhaps a better solution is instead of subsidies, we have a sort of basic command economy for staples while still allowing a private market for luxury food items. Not sure. Haven't thought about this much.
I don't like subsidies because groups that get fat off government's teat end up buying up our politicians and we start looking more like China where private & state power become intertwined. But maybe it's a necessary evil when it comes to food, I'm not sure.