ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the international distribution of power in the world coffee industry. It examines the economists' explanation for the existence and survival of the International Coffee Agreement (ICA). The chapter explains why economists are wrong in the case of coffee, and proposes an alternative explanation for the operation of the ICA. Coffee has always been dependent on world trade for a market, and over the years certain countries have come to dominate this. The United States was also the largest importer of soluble coffee. Coffee, then, is a commodity whose circulation in the world economy affects the lives of a great many people in both developed countries (DCs) and less developed ones (LDCs). The turning point in international coffee regulation occurred in 1962 when the United States, the world's largest importer, joined the ICA.
