Just another one of those little teachable moments

That something should be done we agree. We just want to use a suggestion about what should be done to make a deeper point.

Cui bono?

Who benefits from the proiduction of things? Who benefits from imports?

Europe must turn off the Russian gas taps right now

Governments are still sending money to a regime whose troops are arbitrarily killing civilians and leaving their bodies in the streets

Perhaps that’s true, perhaps those taps should be turned off. But think for a moment about who benefits from their being on?

The standard answer is that it’s Russia (or Putin, or the Russian Government, or some such variation). They end up with a pile of euros and that’s the benefit, right?

But think of who would actually suffer if those taps are turned off. Some large portion of Europe would be unable to cook their food, heat their homes, live that civilised and urbane life.

So, who is it that benefits from the production of that natural gas? The consumers, clearly. Equally, who benefits from the imports? Again, consumers.

Production benefits consumers, imports benefit consumers, that’s why we do these things.

Which is that teachable point. We’re never going to grasp the basics of production and trade until we all agree who it is that benefits from such systems. It’s consumers, for they are then able to consume what is produced, imported.