"...Yet, there is a paradox.
...No market economy with a liberal democracy suffered through a famine during the 20th century. However, famines produced out of human design increased considerably. 
...Fortunately, recent work by Natalya Naumenko in the Journal of Economic History provides us with such a disentanglement in the case of the Holodomor in the Ukraine during the 1930s.
...First of all, the death toll was horrific: six to eight million died in 1933.
...First of all, the death toll was horrific: six to eight million died in 1933.
...However, the effects of collectivization and government procurements of wheat do provide strong explanatory power: between 52% and 57% of excess mortality is explained by variations in the rate of collectivization of the farm economy across districts.
...As Naumenko summarizes succinctly, it is necessary to “put the blame where it belongs:” at the feet of “government policies that make the food supply susceptible to disaster when environmental conditions are less than perfect.”
...As Naumenko summarizes succinctly, it is necessary to “put the blame where it belongs:” at the feet of “government policies that make the food supply susceptible to disaster when environmental conditions are less than perfect.”
This work of economic history is not just worth reading because of its well-executed nature.
It is worth reading because it is a potent reminder of how governments can fuel some of the worst disasters in human history...Read all.
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