Maybe the time has come to scrap the government-sanctioned, cartel-like arrangement in the Canadian dairy industry known as supply management (see previous post). Australia and New Zealand have already done so. And now Europe and the U.S. appear ready to loosen the grip.

The Canadian Dairy Commission (CDC) has once again raised its support prices for dairy products. Hikes for skim milk and butter prices are to come into effect Sept. 1 and will boost farmers’ revenues by $1.45 per hectolitre of industrial milk. Industrial milk is used to make cheese, butter, skim-milk ...