Dump on me! (with a caveat)

I've never quite understood the problem about "dumping" - where food that's been over produced due to subsidies is sold at below market prices in other countries. When EU taxpayers fund our farmers to produce a butter mountain, it's obvious that we suffer. But it seems odd that people think the people who are dumped on lose out. Consumers love to be dumped on! Daniel Davies argues this case in the Guardian.

I think the problem with dumping stems from a few problems:

1. It violates the mercantile view that economic prosperity stems from strong exports, and since most development economists susbribe to this view they think that competition for African producers is bad. But dumping helps consumers - it makes them richer - and therefore should be applauded
2. Dumping makes EU taxpayers worse off and African consumers better off. Therefore it's obvious why many Westerners think it's bad. For me the CAP should be abolished, but given that it exists, dumping is a good thing. It's a shame that it's a state-administered charity intending to support domestic farmers, but the unintended consequences of providing cheap food for the poor cushions the blow
3. Subsidised farming distorts price signals, and therefore makes the market inefficient. This complicates the production decisions of African farmers (because they're being fed innacurate information), but most importantly dumping is a market abhoration. Since it rests on political rather than economic decision making, it's harder to predict the size and scope, and therefore (I think) is more volatile.

In an ideal world there'd be no farm subsidies and no dumping. This would create a geniunely level playing field for African farmers to interpret market signals and produce profitably. However given farm subsidies exist, dumping can benefit the very poor. My main concern is how volatile these policies are, and the market distortions that result.

Whilst we're on the subject of Africa, Owen shares a quote:

Today there is a second wind of change blowing across Africa, ... Understanding the day-to-day stories of Africa means abandoning preconceived notions. ... With better media coverage, the United States and the world would realize that there is more to Africa than death, disease, disaster, and despair.

My comment:

Shame tha there isn’t more to African media coverage than pomposity and soundbite though