Publisher's Synopsis
Fifty or more developing countries still depend mainly on the tropical commodities or minerals that they produce. But encouraging so many countries to grow coffee, sugar, cotton and other crops has been a disaster. Small farmers get only a tiny share of the final tag on these commodities on supermarket shelves in the North. Prices have collapsed, terms of trade between North and South have widened, and foreign exchange earnings, tax revenues, and economic growth in developing countries have plummeted. Peter Robbins examines how this situation came about, the current trading arrangements and the possible ways forward. He argues that, if developing countries are to measure up to the scale of the disaster facing them, they must take a leaf out of supply side economics, and take the measures to bring supply and demand into a balance that will secure them far higher and more stable prices.
