Re:U.S. Farmers Stung by Tariffs Now Face a $3.5B Corn Loss
by speedplane on Saturday August 17, 2019 @02:19AM
(#20722481)
> That's what happens IRL, too many food producers go bust, the stored glut gets used, and suddenly you're not producing enough and people die.
Maybe that happened in pre-industrial societies, but that isn't what happens today. Today, when things go wrong, prices of some products go up a bit (e.g., meat), and people buy less of it, replacing those calories with cheaper ones (e.g., rice, corn).
The beauty of a well functioning market is that it's not centralized, things don't go wrong all at once, they happen on a gradual scale and folks can adjust.
Maybe that happened in pre-industrial societies, but that isn't what happens today. Today, when things go wrong, prices of some products go up a bit (e.g., meat), and people buy less of it, replacing those calories with cheaper ones (e.g., rice, corn).
The beauty of a well functioning market is that it's not centralized, things don't go wrong all at once, they happen on a gradual scale and folks can adjust.