Foreign Educated Bubble Headed Technocrats - Comparative Advantage and Free Trade

One of the country’s top Economic adviser is advocating that we should do away with Food Security and open the flood gates to imports. This is what happens when we buy into the theoretical Economic Principles. We all understand the concepts and principles of Comparative Advantage and Free Trade but the devil is in the implementation. What happen to countries with too few Comparative Advantage? How do they survive or even afford imports even if it is cheaper.

This leading Economic Adviser is advocating that we should not be too concern with Local Production and Food Security because protecting Local production will increase the cost of living and lower the standard of living. What he failed to realize is that without local production, we would not have local employment, unemployment would increase. Local Production increases employment and increases wealth distribution and without employment and wealth we would not have the money to even buy cheaper imports. This is why I call them Foreign Educated Bubble Headed Technocrats because they can come up with the most shoot yourself in the leg ideas, right out of the text books with no regard for reality. He being a professor of economics, worshipped the mystical natural order, economic laws. Certain actions will bring about certain reaction and balance out the yin and yang economic forces and everything will be alright. 

This leading Economic Adviser is advocating that we kick away the legs from under local production in favour of cheaper Imports even saying that the USA subsidies is benefiting us, they are subsidizing our consumption but fail to see that we are injecting wealth into other people’s economy at the expense of our own. Import is a leakage and a bigger leakage when we import things we already produce.

Take for example Caribbean Broilers who employ 30,000 Jamaicans what would happen to that one company when we flood the market with cheap imported Chicken because let’s face facts, Jamaica cannot compete with the USA who enjoys a lower cost structure and bigger Government subsidies. What will happen to the other local Poultry producers and the people they employ? Now expand that to all the local companies who employ local Jamaicans and pay them salaries.

This leading Economic Adviser is not advocating that we work with local producers to lower their cost structure, help them to improve their production methods, to make it more efficient and cost less thus lowering price to the consumer. In 2009, the then Minister of Agriculture declared that fertilizer from Local Jamaican companies was too expensive and as such Jamaica will import/buy fertilizer from American sources. This to me is a very anti-Jamaica and an anti-Jamaican business position for our Government to take because it is NOT like fertilizer was in short supply and we must increase short term supply to the local market. I do understand the need to keep the agricultural cost of production down and inflation in check.

What was missing from the minister was any sort of analysis as to why the local price of fertilizer was so high. We heard nothing about the Ministry trying to engage fertilizer producers, trying to find out why prices are high and how the Government can help to reduce cost and pass lower prices on to the consumers, no long term plan of action. The Government’s position then was to undercut local manufactures, they will flood the market with lower price fertilizer (human feces fertilizer) and drive local businesses out of the market. In other words they were not working with the companies but working around them.

The Reality of the situation is, we must be careful how we implement theoretical Economic Principles especially when most other First World Countries are employing Protectionist Principles. The USA is in Protectionist mode and aggressive export mode and we will suffer for it.

Now I am wondering if this Leading Economic Adviser is acting as a local lobbyist for the American Government, if he is on their payroll because he is acting in their best interest, not ours.