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Central Alberta | That's what we call our quota system here. It puts a cap on the supply of a commodity so that prices will rise to a desirable level through the forces of supply-and-demand. Lots of people think it can work sustainably, including academics and even our Canadian government supports it.
But look what happened to our dairy industry. The milk quota, which is basically a license to sell milk, was being bought and sold at ever-escalating prices until it became unaffordable or a major component of a dairy farm's debt. The consumer paid the price too; I remember a block of cheese that cost $10 a few years ago is now over $30. American imports of dairy products were kept out of Canada by tariffs as high as 280%. So who were the winners? The dairy farmers saddled with crippling debt? The consumer, forced to pay triple for dairy products? The manufacturers who have closed down one by one over the years? How can supply management result in anything good in the end?
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Is supply management sustainable?
