The concept of “buy local” may sound appealing to most people, especially in smaller areas such as rural Colorado. But the damages of this concept seem to actually heavily outweigh the negative things it brings along. Two of the major issues with this idea of “buy local” are an increase in prices and a decrease in variety, which are two things that nobody wants. The main reason to buy local products isn’t necessarily to support the local community; it’s actually because the products may be better. If a town buys only locally and all the surrounding towns do the same, there will be much less variety and less productivity because each town needs only to produce enough for their own community and no more. I believe it is still important for me to occasionally buy local because I like honey, and the local honey here in Colorado is far better than imported honey from somewhere else.
Economic strengths of “buy local” that were not mentioned in the video were that you are still economically supporting the local businesses by buying their products. If, for example, I have a choice between honey produced locally and honey produced somewhere else, and I buy the honey produced locally, I am supporting my local honey business. The issue of less variety is true only when exporting goods isn’t an option. As a customer, I have a choice between local honey and non-local, and while the local honey is certainly more expensive, if I buy that one then it does benefit my community more than buying the non-local product does.
From Colorado’s perspective, “trade” with Wyoming versus with China is very different. If a consumer in Colorado purchases fireworks from Wyoming, the reason for that purchase or trade would be to obtain something they can’t get here in Colorado locally. If, however, the consumer in Colorado purchases or trades for a T-shirt from China, the reason isn’t necessarily that the shirt is only available from China but probably just that it is cheaper. The concept is very much the same: the consumer is trading money for goods from either place, but the motive is very different. Since China has a lower opportunity cost of production of the shirt than the U.S. does, it may not even be produced here but rather just imported from China, and the consumer will trade for the shirt.
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