An excellent article. It may be worth also pointing out that while all countries distort markets with subsidies, the result in the USA is to drive poor health outcomes (subsidies for corn result in millions of tons of high-fructose corn syrup that’s added to practically everything, and subsidies for tobacco no one wants) whereas subsidies in Europe help drive better health outcomes because of the richer diet in vegetables.

If governments are going to spend taxpayer revenue on farm subsidies, surely it makes sense to do so in a manner that drives better health outcomes rather than the reverse. But then again, when did sense ever have much to do with US government policy? The USA is an outlier in the OECD across practically every indicator: massive health spending but health outcomes near the bottom, massive gun violence, poor educational outcomes, higher levels of inequality and poverty… the USA is more akin to a third world country with shiny toys than a civilized nation striving to make life adequate for the majority of its citizens.