Commodity problems and stabilization schemes

Abstract

Numerous studies have been conducted on the problems facing the developing world today. Based on these, countries developed and developing alike, now agree that what is basically wrong with the world today is the vast and growing difference in incomes and wealth between the rich and poor nations. This is not a revolutionary discovery because for many years now developing countries have called for a redress to the inequitable system of world economic relations which makes the poor nations more miserable and the rich even richer. I, for one, have been rather fond of saying that for all our differences in ideology, religion, race or creed, the root cause of our difficulties is the "problem of the stomach". By this I mean that in most developing countries, people eke out a meagre hand-to-mouth existence which in times of economic recession may force them to face outright starvation. Explosive political instability is then created whereby solutions on an objective basis is hampered by both lack of funds and by a breakdown in the administrative machinery..