So Fantastic: Best Grand Game EVER

Got this email.  Here is the email (redacted to protect identity):

Remember, when you are grocery shopping, check out where your produce, fish and seafood come from, among other items. I never understood the logic of buying apples from Chile, blueberries from Mexico, shrimp from Thailand and -- heaven forbid -- fish from China when all of those can be found here in the US.

If you shop at Costco or any of the big warehouse stores, be sure to check your labels there too. They are notorious for selling imported goods. Pass it on!

S**** E******* (561) 254-****
******@bellsouth.net

And here is the informative expose video that you can't afford to miss!  (With thanks to Joel)

 

Honey do's and Honey don'ts

I was not aware of how much political clout US beekeepers possessed.

Here's a fascinating story about "food fraud", aka tariff evasion, in the honey market.


Here are some of the impressive bits:

After U.S. beekeepers accused Chinese companies of selling their honey at artificially low prices, the government imposed import duties in 2001 that as much as tripled the price of Chinese honey. Since then, little enters from China legally.

and this:

The raid on the ALW office on North Wabash Avenue occurred seven months later, after U.S. honey producers had warned Commerce and Homeland Security that companies might be smuggling in cheap Chinese honey. Low prices made them suspicious.

People its a very sweet deal indeed when you can get the government to create a monopoly for you and also get it to go after any "cheaters" with "armed federal agents, all wearing bulletproof vests."

It was terms of trade, in the 1890s, with volatility

Nice review of J. Williamson's book "Trade and Poverty" in the new issue of the EJ.

While not exactly a ringing endorsement, the review made me want to read the book (which I probably should have already done.

Here's an excerpt:

Williamson's conclusions can be summarised as follows. First, the link between falling behind and globalisation is causal (p. 231). Second, changes in the external terms of trade matter much more for growth outcomes than most people recognise (p. 199) while the role of changing domestic fundamentals and, in particular, institutions has been exaggerated (p. 213). Third, if the goal was industrialisation and growth, the periphery needed smart tariff policies to foster skill-intensive sectors; in some countries, especially in Latin America, the politically driven policy response was, unfortunately, the wrong sort of protection (p. 229).

The rest of the review spells out why Williamson may be shortchanging the importance of institutions.

Hat tip to Justin S.

They should have stuck with import substitution

From Argentina (one of my very favorite countries) comes a great story on how tax collectors are innovating to find unreported income.

Briefly, they are counting the number of imported breast implants to get an idea of the income of plastic surgeons. They claim that given the number of these imports, there is at least $10 million of unpaid taxes floating around the industry.

People, these poor surgeons are just the latest victims of globalization!