Vegetable price refraction: good market and poor market

After the housing price issue became the focus of attention of the whole society, the price of vegetables has recently become the topic of common people talking about. why? Because the price of vegetables has risen so badly, people have felt a lot of pressure. The issue of vegetable prices is not an isolated case. It is just like the real estate market. It reflects the situation of the Chinese market from one aspect, especially the drawbacks that exist in the commercial sector. It has reached a point where it cannot be ruled.

According to reports, vegetable prices have continued to rise in some areas in recent years. Especially in the past two months, it was originally the peak season for the supply of vegetables in summer, and the price of vegetables still rose. According to the national monitoring system of agricultural materials and agricultural product prices, the price of vegetables in the country has continued to rise since July. As of August 18, the average price of monitored vegetables rose by 17.9%, with half of the prices increasing by more than 20%. Some popular varieties The increase was above 30%.

Why is the price of vegetables so up? Some analysts said that it was mainly affected by weather and natural disasters. Abnormal climate this year, some vegetable production areas caused by the flooding caused by vegetable production, coupled with transport difficulties, increased costs, leading directly to the continued rise in vegetable prices. In addition, the rising cost of agricultural resources in recent years has also contributed to the rise in vegetable prices.

These analyses are not unreasonable. However, compared with previous years, the weather this year is somewhat abnormal, but it is not very extreme. Although natural disasters are very serious in some areas, they are not worse than the major disaster years. In addition to the natural causes of the continuous rise in vegetable prices, more people are probably the cause of the market. According to a survey conducted by the reporter, vegetable prices generally rose more than doubled from the vegetable wholesale market to the vegetable market. This phenomenon is known as the city's vegetable prices rose in the "last mile."

Why is this "last mile" price doubled? What problem does it reflect? Worth analyzing.

First, it reflects the two exploits of the business sector for farmers and urban residents, reflecting the severe distortion of the price signal and the multiple defects in the market structure. According to Zhang Zhenhe, an expert from the National Agricultural Technology Promotion Center of the Ministry of Agriculture, some time ago he investigated in Zhongmu County, Henan Province. The local farmers sold garlic at a price of 3 to 4 yuan per catty, while garlic prices in Beijing supermarkets were sold at the same time. 20 yuan a pound, is the farmer's price 5 times. It can be seen how thick the profits in this circulation area are, and farmers and urban residents have a lot to lose.

Subdividing it, from the farmer's field to the dining table of the urban residents, there are procurement, transportation, wholesale, and retail links. If there is a peeling at each link, especially in the wholesale and retail links after entering the city, There must be many management and assessment costs. In this case, if the sellers still have to chase high profits and the urban sales channels are highly monopolized, then the city’s vegetable prices are not expensive and not distorted.

Second, it reflects the serious asymmetry of price information, reflecting the multiple imbalances in the organization of vegetable production and sales, reflecting many omissions and gaps in the logistics field. From the farmers’ difficulties in selling vegetables to selling vegetables, to the urban residents’ “buying vegetables” and “buying vegetables expensively”, the huge price gap that exists among them is actually a reflection of the asymmetry of information on agricultural products. The production and sales organization had problems and it was a problem in the market.

Because, from the vegetable needs of urban residents, as long as there is no sudden public event like “SARS”, it is not an elusive variable, but a constant, which can effectively organize production and supply. Abnormal prices appear, there must be a problem with the market. Of course, in the cold chain logistics of agricultural products, the problems in networked sales and distribution are also the causes of the high prices of vegetables.

In addition, the continued rise in the prices of urban vegetables also reflects the problems of modern “urban diseases”. In the past two years, the cost of living in some cities, especially those with a population of over one million, has become higher and higher, and the relationship between supply and demand has become increasingly fragile. If there is not an economic environment with highly symmetrical information, a well-developed market system, and a well-developed commercial logistics environment, without adequate market competition and effective supervision and management, any problems in any of the links will lead to abnormal fluctuations in prices, leading to urbanization. The interests of residents have been damaged.

For example, in the past two years, with the acceleration of urbanization, some cities have continued to expand and the population has increased rapidly. On the one hand, the rapidly increasing urban population has an increasing demand for vegetables, and on the other hand, it has reduced agricultural land, including vegetable fields. As a result, the self-sufficiency rate of urban vegetables has been declining. Not only has the contradiction between supply and demand stood out, but the relationship between supply and demand has become increasingly unstable. Under such circumstances, if there is not a stable supply base and no nationally unified big market, then the unreasonable rise in urban vegetable prices will be inevitable.

It can be seen that the problem of vegetable prices is not a problem of production. It is mainly a problem of the market and is a problem of urban management. Now, because three meals a day is something that every household cannot afford, every day, the constant rise in the price of vegetables has a very direct impact on the lives of ordinary people. To this end, the State Council issued a "Notice on Further Promoting Vegetable Production to Ensure Market Supply and Price Stability" at the end of last month, with particular emphasis on the importance of vegetable prices and specific solutions.

The issue of vegetable prices is just an example. It reflects the current economic problems and market conditions in China. For any market, if it cannot truly reflect the supply and demand situation and reflect the reasonable relationship between price and value, then it cannot be considered a good market. This is the same for the market, and the virtual economy such as the stock market.