Noodle breakfast

Comments on Liu Shinan's column "Correct, timely government intervention" (China Daily, July 11)

This plan will make things even worse for the people of Lanzhou.

Suppose you are a restaurant owner in Lanzhou who is told to charge no more than 2.5 yuan for a bowl of noodles.

The only way to stay in business is to hold down the cost of ingredients.

So with grain prices rising this month in China and the wholesale cost of your noodles going up, the only option is to cut either the amount or the quality of the beef going into the bowl.

That just reduces the protein content of an already skimpy product.

The result is an even less nutritious breakfast. More empty carbohydrates from white flour and less protein from less beef.

Looking forward to more students and office workers falling asleep in the mornings in Lanzhou as the quality of their breakfast goes down.

Wang

On the China Daily website

If it's not the market price, it won't last long. The points you raised are not quite enough to justify government intervention.

Mike

On the China Daily website

I agree with the comments about the price of food and other items at airports in China.

As in Lanzhou, the government ought to put in place some measures. It is not so much about monopolizing the price, but about protecting consumers from unlawful price hikes.

Ben

On the China Daily website

The beef noodle market in Lanzhou should become a monopoly? This is quite ridiculous.

The government should focus on public security. Your proposed intervention into the daily market mechanism will definitely distort it.

Sanmao

On the China Daily website

An excellent article! To expand on it, health, food, education and transportation should all have some form of government control.

If left to "market forces", we'd have the worst aspects of human nature influencing those essential areas cited above. It's not what we want.

Mopy

On the China Daily website

Readers' comments are welcome. Please send mail to Letters to the Editor, China Daily, 15 Huixin Dongjie, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100029 China. Send faxes to (86-10) 6491-8377. Send e-mail to opinion@chinadaily.com.cn or letters@chinadaily.com.cn or to the individual columnists. China Daily reserves the right to edit all letters. Thank you.

(China Daily 07/18/2007 page11)