Crise alimentaire : crise publique, remèdes libéraux !

Le problème affectant les productions de céréales sont-ils, comme l'affirme avec certitude notre ministre de l'agriculture, liés aux excès de "l'ultra libéralisme et de la mondialisation" ? M. Barnier devrait y réfléchir à deux fois avant de proférer d'aussi ridicules affirmations. En tant que personne bien informée -- à son poste, il faut l'espérer -- il devrait savoir que ce ne sont pas de prétendus excès du libéralisme, mais plutôt l'insuffisante liberté affectant les producteurs et distributeurs de matières premières agricoles qui les empêchent d'offrir aux populations les récoltes nécessaires à la satisfaction de tous les estomacs. Prenons le cas du commerce du riz. Selon le New York Times : The damage that trade restrictions cause is probably most evident in the case of rice. Although rice is the major foodstuff for about half of the world, it is highly protected and regulated. Only about 5 to 7 percent of the world’s rice production is traded across borders; that’s unusually low for an agricultural commodity. So when the price goes up — indeed, many varieties of rice have roughly doubled in price since 2007 — this highly segmented market means that the trade in rice doesn’t flow to the places of highest demand. (...) This lack of support for trade reflects a broader and disturbing trend. An increasing percentage of the world’s production, including that for agriculture, comes from poor countries. Over all, that’s good for rich countries, which can focus on creating other goods and services, and for the poor countries, which are producing more wealth. But it can slow the speed of adjustment to changing global conditions. For example, if demand for rice rises, Vietnamese farmers — who remain shackled by many longstanding regulations of communism — aren’t always able to respond quickly. They don’t even have complete freedom to ship and trade rice within their own country. Poorer countries also tend to be the...

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