Chicken Coup

This blog may or may not sound lame but it does spark some interest for my own record. I've been reading the news these past days regarding our rogue chicken producer (or the union) asking the government to stop regulating (or controlling) the chicken prices. I suppose it would be beneficial to raise the prices at the moment due to the raising fears over swine flu, but it also begs a sound and logical explanation behind the request. 

In proper economics, increased demand ensures prices will drop due to higher volume. It's kinda weird to see the chicken farmers increasing their prices during a higher demand (due to a demand switch from pig based produce to chicken) environment. This usually happens in a regulated market. But wait! The chicken farmer (or the union) is asking for the FREE MARKET to determine the market prices... This incomprehensible situation is absolutely nonsense. A free market does not support unions in the first place, meaning all farmers produce their own goods and sell them at a willing rate to any purchasing customer without resorting to unionized pressure. Creating one large monopoly via a union and forcing a price increase on ALL chicken produce is NOT a free market practice in the first place. Thus they are WRONG in forcing this non-free market price on all customers. It is also therefore NOT wrong for the government to be a collective voice of the consumers in general to put a pressure on them to reduce their prices. Until this union break-up their controls on chicken produce distribution and let the REAL free market take place, I firmly believe the Government has the right to put a price ceiling to curb such monopolistic and anti-free market pressures. 

I would also like to suggest another treatment to this growing itch in our backs. I recall a few years ago during a worldwide bird-flu outbreak that the situation is very much different. At that time, the chicken sales suffered tremendously with losses of income and reduction in chicken consumption. Guess who begged for subsidies and assistance FROM the government? We all know the answer and therefore we could also easily pen down the diagnosis and treatment for them. The government will let the chicken union have their free-market with a BIG relief... and a small clause. That in any case of environmental and market situation that may effect the future sales of the chicken union and its constituents (farmers, distributors, resellers), they may NOT ask for any assistance at all and let the FREE-MARKET take its damage on THEM. Nuff said, case closed... we know who will loose. Customers can purchase fish, beef, boer meat and countless other produce with no worries at all.