According to the UN's International Labour Organization, young people aged 15-24 make up almost half of the jobless in the world. If they are not successfully integrated economically into society, it's not a far stretch to see them turn to crime. There's also the correlation with terrorism. Western farm subsidies are clearly not helping in this regard, as the dumping of the resulting commodities hurts farmers in poorer countries.
According to a May 2003 piece:
... notes the Oxfam report: "By driving down prices for these farmers, US taxpayers -- along with their European counterparts in other product groups -- bear a direct responsibility for poverty in Africa." It charges that US subsidies directly led to losses amounting to more than $300 mn in potential revenue in sub-Saharan Africa during the 2001/02 season. US subsidies have a major influence on the world market because a large proportion of US production -- more than 50 per cent -- is exported, making the country the largest exporter by a wide margin.
The USA rightly points out that the EU is also to blame.
Subsidies and other supports to farmers in the EU amounted to an estimated $93 bn last year -- nearly double the $49 bn the US spent. To illustrate the absurdity of the subsidies in relation to human development, World Bank chief economist Nicholas Stern uses the example of an average European cow, which receives $2.50 per day in subsidies while 75 per cent of Africans live on less than $2 a day. These subsidies have allowed the region to dominate world trade even in the most unlikely of agricultural products.
The export of subsidized agricultural goods is the export of poverty. Correlated linkages with resulting crime, instability, and terrorism can be a form of blowback.
No comments:
Post a Comment