Economist Leonard Read famously observed that no one on Earth is capable of single-handedly making a pencil.
asserted
one → observe → pencil
You can slap together a BLT—a bacon, lettuce, tomato sandwich, a classic of the deli counter—in a few minutes, and the ingredients will set you back no more than a few bucks.
asserted
ingredients → slap → bucks
It's simple and delicious, which is all a good sandwich needs to be.
asserted
sandwich → need → ?
The humble BLT is a lesson in the incredible complexity and remarkable ability of markets to meet our needs, even without anyone coordinating the whole process.
asserted
anyone → meet → process
Getting that bacon, lettuce, and tomato to your plate requires farmers, truckers, processors, manufacturers, retailers, and more.
asserted
Getting → get → farmers
It is also, unfortunately, becoming a lesson in what happens when governments intervene in those markets.
asserted
governments → become → markets
Under the terms of Proposition 12, which voters in California approved in 2018, farms are required to give chickens, calves, and hogs more space.
asserted
farms → approve → space
But the rule doesn't apply only to farms in California.
asserted
rule → apply → California
To sell any meat product into the Golden State, producers must show that they comply with the rule.
asserted
they → sell → rule
The rule was meant to improve animal welfare, but there are some obvious tradeoffs.
asserted
rule → mean → welfare
Complying with California's rules raised production costs across the board by about 9 percent, according to the National Pork Producers Council.
uncertain
Complying → comply → Council
That's one of the reasons why bacon has been getting more expensive.
asserted
bacon → get → reasons
An average pound of bacon cost $5.83 in January 2021, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
uncertain
pound → cost → Statistics
Now, it will set you back about $6.60.
asserted
it → set → 6.60
That's still a pretty good deal—especially when you consider how many jobs are involved in getting that crispy slice of meat onto your sandwich—but Proposition 12 clearly demonstrates how state policy, even when well-intentioned, carries costs.
asserted
policy → consider → costs
Now, let us consider the lettuce.
asserted
us → let → lettuce
Much of America's supply of leafy greens comes from Yuma, Arizona, where farmers depend heavily on immigrant labor to get the job done.
asserted
job → come → labor
Most of those farmworkers use H-2A visas to cross into the United States, but intensified immigration enforcement has made it harder for farms to find the workers they need.
asserted
they → use → workers
With militarized checkpoints and huge fines for anyone caught not carrying their papers, some workers have decided that those jobs aren't worth the hassle.
asserted
jobs → catch → papers
The Department of Labor has warned of an "imminent labor shortage" that could threaten food supplies.
uncertain
that → warn → supplies
Fewer lechugueros in the fields of Yuma threaten the supply chain that provides the critical, crispy backbone to your BLT.
asserted
that → threaten → BLT
But politically, it is considered a vegetable.
asserted
it → consider → ?
The Supreme Court decided that in a rather bizarre case in 1893 involving tariffs on tomatoes.
asserted
Court → decide → tomatoes
Last year, President Donald Trump ended a 1996 agreement that allowed Mexican tomatoes to enter the United States without any tariffs.
asserted
tomatoes → end → tariffs
That was a good deal, because Mexican tomatoes are regarded as some of the tastiest in the world.
asserted
tomatoes → regard → world
Also, longer growing seasons in Mexico meant that Americans had access to fresh tomatoes for larger portions of the year.
asserted
Americans → mean → year
We still import them, but they are more expensive to buy.
asserted
they → import → them
Fresh tomato prices subsequently jumped nearly 40 percent year over year.
asserted
prices → jump → year
That move was meant to benefit domestic tomato growers.
asserted
move → mean → growers
And, sure, that might work.
uncertain
that → work → ?
But the tradeoff is more expensive tomatoes at the grocery store and some reduction in the economic benefits that come along with importing tomatoes.
asserted
that → come → tomatoes
Governments can impose rules to protect animals, restrict immigration, shield domestic industries, or bring back manufacturing jobs.
asserted
Governments → impose → jobs
Each policy may have a defensible goal, but every intervention also comes with a price.
uncertain
intervention → have → price
Sometimes that price is paid by a farmer.
asserted
price → pay → farmer
And increasingly, it is paid by the consumer standing in the grocery aisle or sitting down to have lunch.
asserted
it → pay → lunch
The Aporia
