The government of Zimbabwe is declaring a state of emergency because of food shortages within the country. This is a very sad situation, made even worse because the ways to ensure food is available are well known and easy for policy makers to implement. The problem for Zimbabweans is their government is unwilling to allow a free market in food. Instead, the government blames a poor crop for causing starvation, but if free markets were allowed, bad weather wouldn’t impact the availability of food. If free markets were allowed, farmers would simply purchase insurance against bad weather and consumers would be free to purchase imported food. Part of the reason behind the current food shortage is the government has increased the taxes on imported food in an effort to raise money for itself, but at a drastic cause to its citizens.
