Corn Laws

[Hopalong]

The Corn Laws were in effect in Britain from 1815 to 1846.
They were supported by landowners who had disproportionate strength through
Conservative party and opposed by Whig party and urban populations.
They provided tariff and other protection to domestic grain production.
Repeal in 1846 was a victory for free trade and led the the way to a strong British economy for the next half century.
Different today in Canada where left wing governments are generally less supportive of free trade agreements.

[cottonpicken]

What happened to the Mexican corn farmer after nafta when highly subsidized corn weny over the boarder?

What happens to us when we compete with American subsidies?

[hedgehog]

The corn laws subsidised the rental values of the great estates in britain. They were brought in to maintain the high rents achieved during the near famine caused by the napoleonic war.
After they were repealed, grain production in the uk collapsed and all the farmers emigrated.

[hedgehog]

Repealing of the corn laws didnt lead to a strong economy, they had no effect for 30 yrs due to the civil war and the franco prussian war. they only reallykicked in after 1880, and ruined the rural economy.

[stonepicker]

Hmm, i think i believe hopalong's version, because every prosperous nation in history has engaged in international trade.

[sawfly]

sounds like your corn law was just more
crony capitalism, like Harper feeds us all the time.

the equivalent of the multinational corporation back then were the land barons.
they owned the govt. and made the rules sound familiar.

sounds just like now. wow have we come a long way!

nothing left about it at all.

that should give you a good indication where we are headed.

like corps. owning every seed you plant, by law ( thanks Tom)
and having locks on your inputs by law .regulation / tariff etc.
( thanks PMRA)

(you see really free trade is not meant for you, just the biggest corp.s)

if it really was was free trade ,
the FTA document would be one page and just say free trade.
but the thousand pages make it free for them not you.

by the way

if the folks that actually produced the corn for the the land baron were guaranteed a living wage .

well , that would be kinda left.
just so you know,

[blackpowder]

We clubbed each other for mastodon meat. What's the difference?

[Braveheart]

First Nations traded corn, flint, hides and meat all over North America for thousands of years. There were rules, and wars fought over trade. This was long before left/right bullshit.

[stonepicker]

More people are more prosperous than at any time in history. I guess there will always be those that see negativity in absolutely everything.

[FarmRanger]

Sawfly, who told you that you don't own your seed? Unless you've signed your rights to save the seed from that variety, you are free to reseed it as long as you want.

[hedgehog]

Sawfly, you are spot on.
The house of lords controlled everything,the price of food, of housing, and they had the power to bankrupt you at any time.
If you didnt vote in the tory booth at election time, an eviction notice soon followed.
it was a straightjacket, and now we have the modern version, but we cant escape it by emigrating.

[hedgehog]

stonepicker, the free trade was a good thing for the colonies, but bad for a uk farmer on a fixed rent.
the corn laws were all about maintaining landlords lifestyles, not interrupting trade.

[foragefarmer]

Stonepicker

Hers's some facts of the growing gap between the rich and poor. Your remark about "some people see negativity in everything" is not true in this regard, as less and less people are seeing prosperity in the world, including here in North America.

The wealthiest 1% will soon own more than the rest of the world's population, according to a study by anti-poverty charity Oxfam.
The charity's research shows that the share of the world's wealth owned by the richest 1% increased from 44% in 2009 to 48% last year.
On current trends, Oxfam says it expects the wealthiest 1% to own more than 50% of the world's wealth by 2016.

[hedgehog]

well said.

[stonepicker]

Maybe it's time you quit worrying about the 1%. Never in history have so many been so prosperous. You had better hope that we always have rich people who build factories and wealth in the country. History has proven that governments can't run business efficiently, so who's left to create jobs?