Text 17221, 87 rader
Skriven 2008-06-04 21:29:22 av Robert Bashe (2:2448/44)
  Kommentar till text 17087 av Michiel van der Vlist (2:280/5555)
Ärende: Humo(u)r
================
Michiel van der Vlist wrote to Robert Bashe on Wednesday June 04 2008 at 13:42:

RB>> Food prices (in the EU) are not chicken feed prices (either in the EU
RB>> or in the States),

MV> But the chicken feed and the human food compete for the same basic
MV> ingerdients on the global market.

Firstly, that's not the case unless you happen to like things most people class
as "unfit for human consumption". Secondly, we're not talking about the global
market, but the situation in the USA compared to that in Europe.

RB>> and a cheaper Dollar only reduces the price in Euro.

MV> A cheaper Doller will make the price of (chicken) food go up.

You apparently haven't taken many economics courses. Or you're assuming, for
reasons I can't imagine, that American chicken farmers will import their feed
from Euro areas. That would, however, be both unnecessary and plain foolish
from an economic standpoint.

RB>> Aside from that, there are differences in legislation (labor law,
RB>> cage size, transportation) that can result in higher production costs
RB>> in the EU - this time in (expensive) Euro.

MV> 1) I wrote "others", not Europeans. The Amercican chicken when
MV> imported into Europe will not only have to compete with Europe grown
MV> chickens but with everyone else importing chickens into Europe. Think
MV> about China...

Maybe, but I can remember several times in the last decade when the chicken
market in Hong Kong collapsed due to disease. People tend to prefer reliable
suppliers, and ones who stay out of the news reports. Aside from that, the
Chinese like chicken too, along with dogs and cats... naturally they don't
export the dogs and cats.

MV> 2) If the conditions of legislation are too bad, the animal rights
MV> activists or the anti slave labour activists will cut in...

I'm talking about what is, not what could be.

RB>> Maybe you haven't noticed it yet, but European manufacturers are
RB>> starting to shift their production to Dollar areas, and for good
RB>> reasons.

MV> Maybe you have not noticed it yet but many economies are starting to
MV> shift from Dollars to Euros, and for good reasons....

To sell, yes. Not to produce. We're still talking about your naive expectation
that somehow American chicken will be too expensive to sell here in Euroland. I
think the exact opposite - the price will be so attractive that much will be
sold, to the delight of the American farmers who spend Dollars to raise their
chickens and get Euros when they sell.

RB>> The products are cheaper in terms of Euro.

MV> Would that explain why 90% of what we import comes form China?

It might if you weren't pulling percentages out of a hat. Don't try to compare
electronics with foodstuffs. Incidently, China is one of the countries that
meanwhile restricts rice exports. Doesn't that tell you something?

BF>>>> If they are subsidized by the American Govt. like the Greek tobaco
BF>>>> farmers.....

MV>>> Then they will be forced to label the chickens with the same
MV>>> warnings as cigarettes: Serious health hazard.

RB>> Now you're being funny.

MV> What I was trying to convey in a funny way was that if they try tricks
MV> like that someone will cry "unfair competetion" put a stop to it, one
MV> way or another...

I agree, but why should anything like that happen? The products will be so
attractive just on the basis of the lower production costs that they can easily
compete without any government aid.

Just look at Germany and ask yourself why it's cheaper to import coal from the
States than to use German coal. And that's a fact: most of the coal used to
generate electricity in Germany comes from mines in the northwest USA. The
cheaper Dollar (in terms of Euro) only increases the commercial advantage.

Cheers, Bob

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