Truck and Barter

This post could have gone on my Wal-Mart blog, but is of more general interest.

British dairy farmers are implying that milk and cheese consumers are too stupid to realize that they should want higher prices, collusion with continental producers, and government protection from those big-bad hypermarkets!:

IF DAIRY farmers want to see an increase in the pence per litre they get for their milk, they'll have to look for help from Europe warns NFU North West Dairy Board Chairman - Ray Brown....

"The supermarkets would not stand for it and would simply find a way to get cheaper imports of milk from the continent. Something I believe the British consumer does not want to see happen because it would not be to their long term benefit..."

"We sometimes forget in this country that a lot of our European neighbours suffer similar problems in regards to milk price. Companies like Wal-mart (who own Asda) are global so we have to challenge them as a European force and not just a British one.

"If we stand together as Europeans we can be represented by EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson and he can then urge the World Trade Organisation to protect our market. But we have to do this as Europeans. There is no way we could do this as a single British entity.

"Therefore, I believe it's vitally important that our new European allies are secured very quickly."

Of course, once dairy prices are controlled by a distant political machine, the British milk consumer will have no direct say in this matter. But isn't that the point?