The "Longest Election Campaign in Modern Canada" Thread

[Euphonious_Polemic]

@RickJay

It’s impossible to say. Some countries will find it to their advantage to import food, some to export it. The nature of comparative advantage alone is so potentially complex that no smart person would hope to guess how things would work out, and of course any number of factors could change what can be produced where; emerging economies, global climate change, new technologies, trends in what foods are desired, and so on. What is for sure is that food would probably be more plentiful and cheaper.

I’m fine with much of what you say, as long as all externalities are properly priced in. Currently, this frequently does not happen.

For example, hypothetically a country could produce a food product cheaper, but only by pumping it full of pesticides and synthetic chemical fertilizers. Cheap product, but at the cost of damaging the environment. If this damage to the environment is considered to be “free”, then importing this “cheaper” food would not be good.

Any country that does not price in externalities like this could then produce food “cheaper”. We have to choose; Do we want to properly price in things like damage to environment, pollution, C02 emissions, overuse of water, etc. to global trade? OR are we happy to simply go to the lowest common denominator, and let countries with the worst record in protecting common resources get the best share of the market?

Or, if a