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Fair Trade vs Free Trade

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Is free trade also fair trade?

All over college campuses around the world you can be sure to find cocoa, coffee and certain other products that are labeled “free trade,” but is fair trade really free trade? I started thinking more about it when a friend of mine coincidentally asked me the same question. After explaining what fair trade was she simply replied ‘does that really help the world, is that free trade?’ Although I answered here question with an emphatic ‘of course!.’ later on that evening I couldn’t help wondering if this was not one of the many ironies of economics and foreign policy to help developing countries that actually goes against common sense and free market systems. Coming from a developing country, I felt a tinge of regret for even thinking like this. Of course I want the best for developing countries. In countries like Ghana it is not hard to see the benefits of fair trade, the profits of farmers are increasing, more children especially girls are going to school, the premium from the fair trade organization is going into building social amenities like pure drinking water, more women are becoming empowered and are learning to take care of their own finances. But is this sustainable? Should the developing nations of Africa continue to depend on organizations such as this indefinitely? The answer to all these unfortunately is no. Governments of wealthy nations are continually pumping money into the fair trade. NGO’s fight indignantly for the rights of poor farmers.
Free trade is
Although, fair trade has improved and continues to improve the lives of countless people in developing countries, we should be sure to note that fair trade is NOT free trade. Sooner or later fair trade should give way to the natural forces of competition and free market demand and supply that will inevitably improve the economies of LDC’s by increasing the efficiency of small firms and businesses that will lead to lower prices and unbounded consumer surplus that people of Africa that suffer in abject poverty so very much need and deserve

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