i hate to say i told you so
by Jon Chun
Published: April 12, 2008
Today the Washington Post ran an article titled “The Philippines Caught in Rice Squeeze.” I thought that was odd, because certainly there must be a nearby nation that can supply the Philippines with more than enough rice to meet its needs.
Sure enough, I was right. The article goes on to state that “Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia, which have fertile river deltas with land and climate that are nearly perfect for rice cultivation,” are all overwhelmingly net exporters of rice. However, “[a]t the other extreme are countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. These island nations have limited land area, transport complications, problems with typhoons” etc., which have ultimately made them net importers of rice.
So what’s the problem? Some countries are good at making rice; some countries are bad at making rice. No big deal. I don’t feel bad that I can’t throw down a fierce dunk on national television - Dwight Howard does that for me. Why can’t the Philippines come to a similar agreement with Cambodia?
The answer can be found on Page 2:
“To work toward the symbolically important but geographically unrealistic goal of rice self-sufficiency, the Philippine government has a long, costly and ultimately unsuccessful history of limiting imports. The professed goal is to motivate Philippine farmers — with higher prices in a protected market — to grow as much rice as they can.”
Wow! Why didn’t I come to a similar conclusion in high school? Instead of being the short Asian kid who was at the top of his calculus class, I could have just as easily been the tall black kid who was at the top of the NBA draft! I’m such a loser! Here I am, 4 years later making $54,000 a year when I could have been a millionaire who just won the Slam Dunk Contest!
I would like to say that my comrade at the Washington Post saw the irony in the Philippine governments’ trade policy and that he used his position at the top of the news food chain to sound the alarm against protectionism; however, I can’t. After a thorough analysis of the cause of the shortage, this was the advice Mr. Harden of the Washington Post had to offer:
“For the Philippine government to take maximum advantage of the market incentives, it should invest in irrigation maintenance, provide more farmers with hybrid seeds and repair potholes in farm-to-market roads, according to several experts at local universities and at the International Rice Research Institute. Whether the government, which has neglected these issues for years, will now invest in them is not yet clear.”
Ouch! So, though we all know that the government’s perverse obsession with domestic rice production is causing the shortages, the best you can do is to cheer on the digging of a deeper domestic-production pit? Blaine, my man, you are not arriving at an intelligent conclusion! I beg you, I implore you, I exhort you, to please check the inter-office memos regarding positions opening in other departments! May I suggest “Arts & Living,” possibly making your niche in the “Home & Garden” section – no “Comics.”
—
(email this article or post to social network)
—
