April 23, 2007 11:45 AM
by B.K. Marcus
(Archive)
According to the Fashion & Style section of yesterday's New York Times, "In Brooklyn, Hipsters Sip 'Fair Trade' Brews."
Time to revisit this classic daily article:
Fairness with Your Coffee?
By N. Joseph Potts
[...] Before going further, I'd like to make it perfectly clear that it is entirely within coffee-bean buyers' rights to pay any price, including an inflated price, they can get growers to agree to. And I consider it entirely within the rights of coffee consumers to buy coffee represented to have been so purchased at any price the retailer is willing to part with it for. This is all voluntary. There are no governments involved and so, as far as I can see, no coercion.
So, why does it rankle me so? FULL ARTICLE
Comments (2)
Speedmaster
One of my fav Mises pieces! ;-)
Published: April 24, 2007 6:52 AM
Matt
This is why I buy direct trade coffee, or actual high quality coffee, where the farmer is compensated because of it's quality, not out of fairness. Plus they ignore a middle man, so everybody wins, except the middle man.
Published: July 13, 2009 2:36 PM