In land area, the four West African countries of Benin, Burkina
Faso, Chad and Mali are about 1 1/2 times the size of the
southern United States. Together, they have roughly the economic
output of greater Charleston, S.C. And when the American
economic giant shuffles its feet, these distant lands feel the
earthquake. Cotton provides an example. For years, the federal
government has guaranteed American cotton producers about 72
cents a pound, even though the real market price of cotton has
averaged about 57 cents. The more cotton U.S. growers produce,
the more they get from the government in subsidies. Since 2002,
market prices haven’t even covered the cost of producing cotton,
but the amount of acres planted in cotton has increased because
the government guarantees a higher price. Most Americans hardly
notice this economic distortion and perhaps chalk it up to
typical, interest-group politics. But the effects in the cotton-
growing regions of West Africa are dramatic. American subsidies
result in overproductio