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Freer Trade Could Fill the World's Rice Bowl TWITTER LINKEDIN SIGN IN TO E-MAIL OR SAVE THIS PRINT REPRINTS SHARE By TYLER COWEN Published: April 27, 2008 RISING food prices mean hunger for millions and also political unrest, as has already been seen in Haiti, Egypt and Ivory Coast. Yes, more expensive energy and bad weather are partly at fault, but the real question is why adjustment hasn't been easier. A big problem is that the world doesn't have enough trade in foodstuffs. Enlarge This Image Alanah Torralba/European Pressphoto Agency Filipino port workers unload sacks of rice imported from Vietnam to be distributed by the National Food Authority. Related Times Topics: Rice Blogrunner: Reactions From Around the Web Managing Globalization: Can rice Farming Be Laissez-Faire? The damage that trade restrictions cause is probably most evident in the case of rice. Although rice is the major foodstuff for about half of the world, it is highly protected and regulated. Only about 5 to 7 percent of the world's rice production is traded across borders; that's unusually low for an agricultural commodity. So when the price goes up - indeed, many varieties of rice have roughly doubled in price since 2007 - this highly segmented market means that the trade in rice doesn't flow to the places of highest demand. Poor rice yields are not the major problem. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that global rice production increased by 1 percent last year and says that it is expected to increase 1.8 percent this year. That's not impressive, but it shouldn't cause starvation. The more telling figure is that over the next year, international trade in rice is expected to decline more than 3 percent, when it should be expanding. The decline is attributable mainly to recent restrictions on rice exports in rice-producing countries like India, Indonesia, Vietnam, China, Cambodia and Egypt. At first glance, this seems understandable, bec

"Tourism prospects remain fragile Published: 8 Mar 2014 at 16.30Online news: Local News BERLIN - UK visitor numbers to Thailand rose at the start of the year despite plunging numbers from some other markets in the face of anti-government protests in Bangkok. However, "at some point there will be a cost" if protests continue, according to Martin Craigs, chief executive of the Bangkok-based Pacific-Asia Travel Association (Pata). The "Teflon Thailand" image the country has earned for its "amazing" ability to bounce back from crises can't last forever, he added. "Of course, traffic [to Thailand] has dropped off," he told the UK-based Travel Weekly in an interview at ITB Berlin, the world's biggest travel trade fair. "What is instructive is how huge the drop is according to [government] travel advisories. Visitors walk past a cardboard cutout featuring a traditional Thai dancer at the Thailand stand of the ITB International Travel Trade Fair in Berlin. (AFP Photo) "Hong Kong dropped 60% from January 2013 to January 2014. But traffic from the UK was almost 10% up [in the same period]." Mr Craigs said the reason was simple: "Hong Kong's travel advisory put Bangkok in the same category as Syria." The UK Foreign Office has not advised against travel to Thailand, acknowledging the fact that the protests have been confined to limited areas of Bangkok. However, Mr Craigs reported hotel occupancy in downtown Bangkok at just 20-30%. He told Travel Weekly: "Of course, people book further in advance from Britain. The UK market is used to a little turmoil and the majority are not coming to spend two weeks in Bangkok. "The UK and Hong Kong are the most extreme examples of what has happened." Pata estimates total visitor numbers to Thailand were down 16% year-on-year in January. "It's not a Ukrainian-style situation [in Bangkok]," said Mr Craigs. "Twenty-two people have been killed in three months in sporadic attacks by extremists. "Nothing has been closed: 98% of Bang