On Mon, April 20, 1998 at 15:56:52 (EDT) boddhisatva writes:
> To Whom...,
>
> I'm just going to keep saying it. This anti-cocaine bullshit is a
>complete waste of time. We can buy it for less. There literally is no
>better strategy for undermining traffickers. At best these Bolivians are
>planning to destroy a quarter of the coca crop. The Western governments
>could buy the coca for peanuts compared to what they spend on "interdiction"
>that is totally futile. You guys are economists. Is or is not buying off
>coca farmers a win-win?
And what happens when they have a guaranteed market? If you're going
to cite economic reasons, at least address the issues of supply *and*
demand --- what's to say that with a guaranteed market, production
won't increase and/or prices? You also need to address the root
problems of this: export promotion, lack of production for domestic
markets, lack of land ownership, domestic (US) demand for the product,
etc.
Bill
