Dairy Godmother.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)(Editorial)

Farm Subsidies: Got milk? If not, you will soon have to pay more to get it. Prices, you see, are set to rise sharply. For that, thank Washington.

Most people think prices for things are set by the market. Not always true. Milk, about as American a product as one can imagine, is a good example. Its price isn't set by the free market, but by the federal government.

That's why, when you walk into the supermarket this week, you'll pay 60 cents more for a gallon than you did last week -- and twice what you paid last year. The government decreed it.

Good for dairy farmers, bad for consumers. The government's efforts to keep milk prices high cost average Americans dearly. And, by having to pay above-market prices for milk and other protected or subsidized goods, the poor are hurt worst of all.

Of course, farmers argue such taxpayer largess is badly needed. Without it, they'd go out of business.

Problem is, farmers will go out of business anyway. Not because of sinister forces, or insufficient government aid. But because of the same productivity boom that made it possible for U.S. factories to boost output by 93% since 1980 with 22% fewer workers. Farms are getting bigger, more efficient and richer.

But why single out milk? After all, it's not the worst ...