Your Handout to Agri-Business
Filed Under: Green Politics on July 23, 2009
by John Stossel
I’ve reported on the government’s boneheaded farm subsidy programs that cost taxpayers $25 billion per year, and import taxes that cost consumers another $12 billion in higher supermarket costs. The average American household pays $320 per year for these policies, but voters rarely complain, because the costs are well hidden. Also, it’s another case of concentrated benefits winning in politics over diffuse costs. Even if you do know that you will be unfairly penalized $320/year, you are less likely to go to your Congressman about that than the business that will win millions.
The Atlantic’s James Gibney has this suggestion:
Every product whose ingredients benefit from a subsidy should include the following language on the label:
“This product has been subsidized by the U.S. government at taxpayer expense. For more information, please visit usda.gov.”
And every product that benefits from tariff protection should have the following language on the label:
“This product is protected from foreign competition by U.S. import tariffs. Its price is higher as a result. For more information, please visit usitc.gov.”
