
This is a stupid idea! We are living in a modern society and aspiring to be upper middle income nation where SERVICE (such as transportation and distribution) plays an increasingly important role in economic growth. We are not in stone age.
Imagine a farmer who plant bananas doesnโt want โMiddlemanโ. He will then have to plant the bananas, harvest, packing, transporting and selling the bananas himself in the market. After he sold off the bananas (which hopefully have not rotten yet), he goes to plant again and repeat the cycle. The only guarantee for him is โpoverty in perpetuityโ!
He should rather focus in doing what he is best at, ie, plant bananas. By producing more bananas, he can make more money by allowingโMiddlemanโ to deal with transportation, distribution and retail.
To avoid exploitation, government must ensure transparency in market and readily accessibleโMiddlemanโ for the farmers.
The โmiddlemanโ can make money because market is INEFFICIENT either due to infrastructure/regulatory problems or lack of transparency in market.
Governmentโs role is not โjihad against middlemanโ but to make policy or investment to improve market efficiency (upgrade rural roads, internet for data access, assist farmers in automation and plant better yield bananas). It can then allow the farmers and โmiddlemanโ and everyone in the supply chain to make more money even though at lower retail price of bananas.
โJihad against Middlemanโ is an idea by economic moron!
Dr Lee Boon Chye
MP Gopeng