Global IssuesJoseph Stiglitz: Liberalization & Subsidized Agriculture vs Poor Farmers
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The Video
Summary
This is a clip from the documentary The End of Poverty in which Joseph Stiglitz explains the impact of market liberalization on poor farmers when they compete with subsidized agriculture.
Video Details
- Source
- The End of Poverty2
- Running time
- 0m 37s
- Filmed
- USA, November 01, 2009
- Credits
- Cinema Libre Studio
- About The End of Poverty
The documentary, The End of Poverty argues that global poverty did not just happen. It began with military conquest, slavery and colonization that resulted in the seizure of land, minerals and forced labor. Today, the problem persists because of unfair debt, trade and tax policies — in other words, wealthy countries taking advantage of poor, developing countries.
- About Joseph Stiglitz
- Professor at Columbia University
One of the most cited economists in the world3, the former winner of the Nobel prize for economics is a professor at Columbia University. He was former Chief Economist of the World Bank and chairman of the U.S. President’s Council of Economic Advisers during the Clinton Administration.
Transcript
In some countries, rapid liberalization and trade has meant that corn farmers have to compete with heavily subsidized corn.
Their income goes down — up to 50% as a result of that competition.
Sugar, each of the commodities we can talk about, the liberalization of the market — opening the markets to highly subsidized agriculture — drives down the price and forces these farmers out of business or if they stay in business leaves them with much lower income.
Related Information
1 articles on “Joseph Stiglitz: Liberalization & Subsidized Agriculture vs Poor Farmers” and 4 related issues:
Trade, Economy, & Related Issues
Read “Trade, Economy, & Related Issues” to learn more.
Causes of Poverty
Poverty is the state for the majority of the world’s people and nations. Why is this? Is it enough to blame poor people for their own predicament? Have they been lazy, made poor decisions, and been solely responsible for their plight? What about their governments? Have they pursued policies that actually harm successful development? Such causes of poverty and inequality are no doubt real. But deeper and more global causes of poverty are often less discussed.
Read “Causes of Poverty” to learn more.
Structural Adjustment—a Major Cause of Poverty
Cutbacks in health, education and other vital social services around the world have resulted from structural adjustment policies prescribed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank as conditions for loans and repayment. In addition, developing nation governments are required to open their economies to compete with each other and with more powerful and established industrialized nations. To attract investment, poor countries enter a spiraling race to the bottom to see who can provide lower standards, reduced wages and cheaper resources. This has increased poverty and inequality for most people. It also forms a backbone to what we today call globalization. As a result, it maintains the historic unequal rules of trade.
Read “Structural Adjustment—a Major Cause of Poverty” to learn more.
Free Trade and Globalization
Read “Free Trade and Globalization” to learn more.
Food and Agriculture Issues
Food and agriculture goes to the heart of our civilizations. Religions, cultures and even modern civilization have food and agriculture at their core. For an issue that goes to the heart of humanity it also has its ugly side.
This issue explores topics ranging from the global food crisis of 2008, to issues of food aid, world hunger, food dumping and wasteful agriculture such as growing tobacco, sugar, beef, and more.
Read “Food and Agriculture Issues” to learn more.
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