Bag's Rants

Why am I apprehensive about this seemingly good thing?

I was reading this article about Fair Trade in Wales and Scotland. Read more here. It seems that this, if successful, could lift thousands of poor third world farmers out of poverty.

Now maybe this is why I'm apprehensive. Does this mean it will become compulsory to buy Fair Trade goods? Does it mean that all Government agencies will now buy Fair Trades in preference to anything else? Of course, it's not their money and it will undoubtedly lead to an increase in costs. Everything they do does so why will this be any different. I'm also not convinced that making someone a preferred supplier and without a negotiated discount is of benefit to no-one, except the supplier of course. Why are these guys more deserving that the others who were competing successfully on the world market and will be rewarded for that by being removed from suppliers lists.

Maybe I need to be an economist to understand. The extra money will come in handy when I need to buy the goods in the future.

posted by Bag @ 6:05 pm