Al-Akhbar’s Distorted Economics

The opposition’s newspaper will say anything to make Mr. Seniora look like a villain.

In addition to an article praising “comrade” Fidel Castro, Al-Akhbar headlines: “Seniora legitimizes smuggling from Syria”. In a nutshell, the editorialists are angry that Mr. Seniora has instructed the Lebanese Customs to allow a free inflow of basic goods like foods and combustibles from Syria.

The Lebanese consumers will now be better off since they will have access to cheaper food and cheaper oil. The only losers here are uncompetitive Lebanese farmers who should have long ago switched to produce where they have a competitive advantage.

Yet Al-Akhbar makes this strange argument:

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Translation: (mine)

Instead of subsidizing fuel and basic foods, the Lebanese government is exposing the citizens to volatile markets and price soaring. So those who now want basic consumer goods will now have to rely on subsidized products from Syria.

I can’t begin to count how many absurdities this statement contains (for example, if you’re exposing the Lebanese consumers to cheap Syrian goods, how does that translate that they will be exposed to “market prices?”). If the syrian government wants to subsidize their food products and hurt the competitiveness of our farmers, we might as well benefit from that and give our people access to their cheap food.

No matter what Mr. Seniora does, Al-Akhbar will find a way to spin it in a negative light.