Friday, December 15, 2006

The Politics of Rice 20

So, now they panic with the very high price of rice. You've been warned, dear, you've been warned.

It's amazing that those who oppose rice market liberalization are still making empty rhetorics. You can say anything using fancy terms like 'agricultural revitalization' and all that. But as long as you distort the price, nothing will change.

Now I'm amused that people care about the skyrocketing rice price. I thought you want higher and higher price 'to help farmers'? Siswono, you happy now? Well, I guess you just don't care about Tarsemi, Darti and others.

By the way, I agree that the productivity issue should be addressed. Yes, but also, unleash the market. That way, you can see if you want to be productive or not. As I like to say, double productivity with double price means nothing.

And once again, I'm not a Bulog defender! No.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Semuanya memang "plintat plintut" Co, even Faisal Basri does not understand the solution. Lha wong beras slalu jadi alat politik semasa Orde Baru, kok sekarang pengen diperkuat kembali dengan menampatkan negara sebagai "pemain." Regulator mungkin oke, tetapi pemainnya biarkan pasar saja yang menentukan.

Begitu harga beras naik dan tidak menguntungkan petani lokal, bahkan justru semakin memberatkan mereka, justru yang ditawarkan memperkuat negara....lha opo toh....?