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December 20, 2005
The Virtues of Fair Trade . . . hmmmmm.
I'd never really thought about the implications of fair trade coffee, but leave an economist alone and you get speculations like this one from Tyler Cowen:
How about a genre called "Exploitation Coffee"? You pay less, and they promise to treat the workers especially poorly. That wording is a less effective marketing ploy, but that is what quality differentiation and indeed "fair trade" boils down to.I just ordered 5 lbs of Ring of Fire from Dean's Beans because I like it and it's cheaper than Wegman's by-the-pound whole beans. I'm glad to know that I can go on buying for reasons of price and flavor rather than imputed virtue!
Posted by CrankyProfessor at December 20, 2005 7:39 AM