Agribusiness in the developing world 

Michael Lind has an alternative take on the movement to eliminate developed world agricultural subsidies. “If the third world becomes as attractive to agribusiness as the first, then machines will replace family farmers, who will become as rare in Thailand as they are in the United States.”

So, he argues, developed world consumers will benefit (from lower food prices) and largely multinational agribusinesses will benefit from reduced costs.

I’m eager to see someone knowledgeable about these issues to do the maths. Even if what Lind writes is true, I suspect the time of transition would see an increase in rural incomes in the developing world, before any consolidation of small family farms works through the system. And even in the long run, incomes in the developing world would increase as countries capture some of the benefits of increased exports. So I wonder how much his point matters.