So, the UN finally admits it's Capitalism not welfare that is ending poverty!

[theVOID]

I'm not sure what you mean by vague hyp

You didn't give an example or explain why we would need subsidies (because that changes the outlook) and what the consequence of not having them would be and the means by which the consequence would impact the economy. Without that there really isn't much I can say, I would have to assume far too much of your position.

We have a fairly exhaustive amount of agricultural subsidies, used for various reasons, three of which being to "normalize" production, the prevent shortages in staple food crops, and to artificially reduce the price of food to make it more available to the consumer (though we still have welfare programs to help families reach this lowered bar). What would the libertarian response to the amount of power and authority of government in agriculture be? I'm not arguing that the ag subsidies aren't a mess, but they do address concerns which are very real. My issue regarding subsidies is that its very easy to criticize the program on ideological grounds, but if one really wanted to remove that type of government interference there has to be some plan to achieve the benefits that the current system provides to us all.

None. No subsidies for anything. If the state subsidises an industry and gives them money then I guarantee you any business interested in the subsidy are going to need a certification or endorsement from the regulators but the way these licenses are set up makes it extremely difficult for effective competition, especially on the small scale as local producers will eventually be written out of the market because the compliance and licensing costs, as well as the inevitable vast subsidies for "innovation" that they don't receive that puts them at an enormous disadvantage, then you have the allocation of capital towards industries that have some agenda backed by the government, people see it as a scenario where their investment will rarely fail because of the cash revenues being pumped in at the expense of taxpayers, this is what makes the companies extraordinarily rich. The consequence of the latter scenario that is of most concern is the lack of capital available for competitors, especially local producers. Who the fuck would buy into a local farm to help them expand their productive capacity when there is a massive highly profitable tax-payer subsidies leviathan to throw cash at?

The solutions I would advocate to the problem vary depending on; (i) The cause of the food shortage, (ii) the current price of the crop(s) in short supply, (iii) possible domestic alternative crops (iiii) suitability of any import alternatives.

So again, you'll need to be more specific.