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Editorial
Hunger
and the Free Market
By Robert Maynard
In a December 13 Burlington
Free Press edition of My Turn entitled "Freedom from hunger as a human
right" Marissa Parisi, who is the executive director of the Vermont Campaign
to End Childhood Hunger, raises an interesting question: "This November,
the U.S. Department of Agriculture released a report that shows that Vermont
is the sixth-hungriest state in the nation, with one in 20 households skipping
meals regularly. How can this be, when at the same time a city like Burlington
has been called one of the healthiest cities in America?"
Setting aside the erroneous
notion expressed in the article that "freedom from hunger" is a right to
be guaranteed by the government, this is a good question to examine. The
same report notes that, while Vermont comes in 6th when it comes to the
problem of hunger, our neighbor New Hampshire comes in 48th out of 50.
In other words, New Hampshire is doing a far better job than we here in
Vermont are when it comes to addressing the needs of it’s poor. Vermont
and New Hampshire have often been referred to as the Twin States because
of their similarities. It might make sense for us to examine what New Hampshire
is doing right and try to emulate their example.
As pointed out by a December
2nd Valley News article entitled "Food on The Table: Why Twin States
Aren't Identical":
Food insecurity,
not surprisingly, is really just another name for economic insecurity,
so differences in income and employment contribute to differences in the
ability of households to provide adequate nutrition. But other factors
also affect the prevalence of food insecurity, including housing costs
and the state tax burden on low-income households.
Looked at from this perspective,
there is no mystery at all as to why Vermont would have a higher rate of
"food insecurity". We are a low wage state with a relatively higher poverty
rate in comparison to New Hampshire (10.5% vs. 7.6%). In addition to lower
wages, we have a higher unemployment rate than New Hampshire (5.9% vs.
4.3% for 2008). According to the Valley New article: "Add in Vermont's
high housing costs and high taxes, and you may have an explanation for
why "very low food security" is more common in Vermont than in many other
states."
What we have here is "A Tale
of Two States". Vermont has followed the democratic socialist model of
high "progressive" taxes and a generous welfare state, while New Hampshire
has followed a model closer to the traditional democratic capitalist model
of free markets and limited government. What Vermont has sought to accomplish
by social programs provided by the state, New Hampshire has achieved by
encouraging economic opportunity.
What should concern us most
is not that New Hampshire is out-performing us when it comes to caring
for the poor, for that has been the case for some time now, but that our
ranking relative to the rest of the nation is slipping as well. According
to the Valley New article:
Still, the prevalence
of food insecurity in Vermont comes as a surprise. Historically, rates
have been below the national average, though higher than in New Hampshire,
and "very low food security" was near the national average until 2006.
Something has changed, and whether the change reflects the disproportionate
impact of the recession, an anomalous survey sample or a combination of
both is a subject of speculation.
I am not convinced that anything
has really changed. One possibility not considered in the article is that
the welfare state model being pursued by Vermont is not sustainable. The
more you punish achievement and discourage the creation of new wealth,
the more wealth creators will flee to greener pastures and the less such
activities will take place. In time you end up killing the "goose that
lays the golden eggs" and there is less left to support the unstable pyramid
of social programs created over the years. This is something that the welfare
states of Europe have started to learn and is one that we had better take
to heart as well.
It would be a good idea for
all Vermonters to read the Ethan Allen Institute’s report "Off
the Rails" to get an idea of where our current path is taking us. There
is the material on the website of Vermonters for Economic Health to examine
as well. Given that New Hampshire is doing a better job of caring for its
poor with a more sustainable free market oriented model, it is long past
time we stopped making excuses and changed directions.
Robert Maynard is the
Editor of the True North website
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