IN BRIEF

North Korean Farmers May be Given Ownership Over Surplus Crops

SEPTEMBER 24, 2012 by CHUCK GRIMMETT

“North Korean farmers who have long been required to turn most of their crops over to the state may now be allowed to keep their surplus food to sell or barter in what could be the most significant economic change enacted by young leader Kim Jong Un since he came to power nine months ago.

The proposed directive appears aimed at boosting productivity at collective farms that have struggled for decades to provide for the country’s 24 million people. By giving farmers such an incentive to grow more food, North Korea could be starting down the same path as China when it first began experimenting with a market-based economy.” (Washington Post)

North Korea still has a long way to go, but this may open the door to more liberalization.

FEE Timely Classics

China’s Free Enterprise Experiment by Donald J. Senese

The Economics of Property Rights by Andrew P. Morriss