Econ_Sep_22

The Economist

September 22nd 2018

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Reforming the CAP

It is true that one part of the

EuropeanUnion’s common

agricultural policy subsidises

farmers based on the size of

their estates (“Anewfurrow”,

September1st). This creates

artificially high land-prices,

making it costly for successful

farmers to expand and reach a

more efficient scale. It also

stops younger, poorer farmers

fromentering the industry and

replacing ageing cohorts. This

is unfortunate. The

CAP

can be

a powerful tool to support

inclusive growth, casting a

verywide net that reaches

farmers in every far-flung

corner of the

. As a result,

farming and poverty are no

longer synonymous in about

half of

member states. The

income gap between agricul-

ture and other industries is

closing even thoughmany

workers across the bloc are in

better-paid jobs.

Governments should con-

sider placing a ceiling on land-

based payments. Many agri-

culturally successful countries,

such as Poland and the Neth-

erlands already do. Others,

such as Britain, do not. Cap-

ping the

CAP

would reduce

some of the pressure on land

prices and help ensure the

money that goes to those

farmerswho need it most.

ROGIER VAN DEN BRINK

Lead economist European Union

member states

World Bank

Brussels

Whither Syria?

You seem to suggest that the

United States should have

taken sides inwhat quickly

became a sectarian civil war in

Syria and removed yet another

dictator by force (“Idlib is

falling”, September 8th). Since

2001, “regime change” has

brought, on balance, more

death, destruction and chaos

than stability or prosperity. In

Afghanistan the Taliban is

resurgent and has become the

de facto opposition partywith

which peacemust be negotiat-

ed to bring an end to17 years of

war. In Iraq the removal of

SaddamHussein and the

disbanding of his army created

the conditions for civil war

andwas a contributing factor

in the rise of Islamic State. In

Libya the fall ofMuammar

Qaddafi produced a shell of a

state riven by anarchy, where

variousmilitias and human-

trafficking now thrive.

There are bad guys and

there are really bad guys. Can

we really saywith honesty

and certainty that some sort of

Western intervention in Syria

would have been any better in

the long run? Ifwe remove

strongmen and take sides in

civil wars, we had better be

sure that we have an adequate

replacement. Horrid as he is,

there has never been a viable

alternative to Bashar al-Assad.

JOHN KALLEEN

Sacramento, California

Immigration isworth it

Your otherwise sound advice

on immigrationwasmarred

by some bad ideas (“Crossing

continents”, August 25th). One

is that migrants should pay

more tax to pay for the infra-

structure and other services

they consume. Yet migrants are

already net contributors to

public finances, not least be-

cause, whereas three-quarters

ofmigrants are ofworking age,

less than half of the host coun-

tries’ populations are ofwork-

ing age. Moreover, the costs

associatedwithmigrants’

education and old age typical-

ly are borne by the sending

countries. Rich countries

recruit doctors, nurses, plumb-

ers or other skilled people, but

have not had to pay for their

education. And although

foreigners contribute to pen-

sions and taxes, they tend not

to take their pension and other

statutory contributionswhen

leaving.

The idea that people should

pay high fees tomigrate is

highly regressive andwould

not only discriminate against

poor people but also under-

mine growth and productivity

in the receiving country. In

America and Britainmigrants

are two to three times as likely

as natives to start their own

business, to found firms that

grow into listed companies, to

get an innovation patented, or

towin a Nobel prize or Acad-

emyAward. Migration policy

should focus onmanaging

admission, and the distribu-

tional consequences and

assimilation, but should not be

based on rationing the rest on

financial hurdles.

PROFESSOR IAN GOLDIN

Oxford University

Inmany countries it is hard to

have a decent debate about

migration, as people have very

different ideas as towhat the

word “immigrant” means.

Some thinkof displaced civil-

ians and highly skilled

others thinkofmigrantswho

steal jobs andwelfare. The

cultural right has done an

excellent job of owning the

language ofmigration, and as a

result it has taken on a toxic

connotation. Those arguing for

liberal immigration need to

stake a claim to some positive

terminology. Recovering terms

like “expatriate” for skilled

migrants to theWest, regard-

less of their country of origin,

would be a first step.

VARDHAN KAPOOR

Singapore

Nike just did it

In an era inwhich divisions

run deep, people identifywith

brands as a reflection of their

own position in theworld.

Nike has shrewdly used this

fact in its latest ad (“Nike in-

vites controversy”, September

8th). As an allegory for the

fallout from the ad itself, the

line: “Believe in something,

even if it means sacrificing

everything”, contains a

double

entendre

. North America is by

far Nike’s biggest market. Its

marketers knewexactlywhat

theywere doing. After the

success of its recent support for

SerenaWilliams, Nike seems

to have been emboldened to

take its activism further.

Brands inNike’s position

have the clout to dominate the

news agenda. Colin Kaeper-

nickhas been lambasted by

the highest echelons of power.

Hemay neverwork in the

NFL

again. The debate had petered

out, but thanks to Nike, it has

been rekindled across thou-

sands of newswebsites. If you

everwanted an example of the

impact of purpose-led ad-

vertising that has the potential

to generate political discourse,

this is it.

JEM FAWKUS

Chief executive

Firefish

London

Armydivisions

I can only assume that Bagehot

was in a truly curmudgeonly

post-holidaymoodwhen he

penned the column onwhy

Parliament needsmore

from the armed forces (Sep-

tember1st). To be fair, Britain

surely needs some replace-

ment at the top; one can only

thinkof the current crop of

politicians as a coalition of

none of the talents.

But the armed forces? I

imagine thiswas a subtle piece

of satire to boot the rest of us

awake after, quite possibly, our

last visa-free trips to European

holidays. The last thing Britain

needs is the simple rule of the

militarymind. Lookat what it

has done for everywhere from

Argentina to Zimbabwe, with

triumphs likeMyanmar and

Pakistan along theway. Britain

is still rivenwith class division.

Brexit is classwar and the

middle class have lost. A sys-

tembuilt on officers and ranks

will not help.

The only thing to be said for

Bagehot’s ouzo-drenched rant

was that it allowed him to take

a journalistic shot at Gavin

Williamson. In that cause

much can be forgiven.

DESMOND HICKEY

Nash, Buckinghamshire

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