Carlos Alberto Montaner at PostGlobal

Carlos Alberto Montaner

Madrid, Spain

Carlos Alberto Montaner is a Cuban-born writer, journalist, and former professor. He is one of the most influential and widely-read columnists in the Spanish-language media, syndicated in dozens of publications in Latin America, Spain and the United States. He is also vice president of the Liberal International, a London-based federation devoted to the defense of democratic values and the promotion of the market economy. He has written more than twenty books, including Journey to the Heart of Cuba; How and Why Communism Disappeared; Liberty, the Key to Prosperity; and the novels A Dog's World and 1898: The Plot. He is now based in Madrid, Spain. Close.

Carlos Alberto Montaner

Madrid, Spain

Carlos Alberto Montaner is a Cuban-born writer, journalist, and former professor. He is one of the most influential and widely-read columnists in the Spanish-language media, syndicated in dozens of publications in Latin America, Spain and the United States. more »

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Cut Out the Farm Subsidies Cancer

In opulent Europe (at least in Spain, where I live), nothing special will happen as a result of the price increases. Today, Europeans set aside a much smaller percentage of their wages for food than they did 10 or 20...

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All Comments (3)

Andrew:

You can't abolish farm subsidies. It comes down to a very basic concept. A nation that doesn't have the ability to grow it's own food can be held hostage by exporting nations or trade cartels. Even if that weren't likely to happen (and it is and happens all the time in Asia) the perceived threat to stability lowers a nation's credit and investment attraction. The problem is all that surplus, protected, domestically produced food often goes to waste or is used inefficiently. Solutions do need to be found for that but we need something more complex and less short-sighted than ending subsidies.

echo from canada:

I totally agree with both! abolish subsidies and let the market be free and fair for all.

Hunky Santa:

There is plenty of food in the world, and has the capacity to produce much, much more. War, corruption, and bad economic policies (subsidies, socialism) cause such perceived shortages.

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