If You Want Strawberry Fields Forever, You Need Migrant Labor
A Year-Round Supply of Low-Priced Food Demands Seasonal Workers Free to Cross Borders
Two hundred years ago this year, British economist David Ricardo published his monumental work “On The Principles of Political Economy and Taxation.” In it he outlined a theory of international trade based on the notion of comparative advantage. The idea is that each country does something, maybe many somethings, relatively well, and they can therefore specialize and trade with each other to their mutual benefit.
Economics has since gone well beyond Ricardo’s analysis. But it remains instructive when it comes to agricultural products. And that brings me to strawberries.
Everyone loves strawberries. …
