Dear Log,
«On agriculture, it has not just been a case of business as usual; more like the west opening up a few new branches of Subsidies R Us. Handouts to the US cotton industry, running at $4bn a year, have lowered the world price by 25%, causing damage to producers in West Africa. Burkina Faso and Mali are losing more from US trade policies than they receive in aid and debt relief combined.[...]In a funny way, however, the west's selfishness may turn out to be a positive development. Why? Because it is abundantly clear that the way international trade works has nothing to do with textbook economic theory. The west talks about free trade, but its approach can be summed up in four words: you liberalise, we subsidise.»
