[xoxoxoBruce]

Oh, and before you Europeans start snickering...

American politicians have created a wretched system of agricultural subsidies, but it seems that Europe’s lawmakers win the prize for concocting the most perverse ways to squander tax money.

That in talking about a Times article.

City dwellers are making huge profits out of an EU loophole that allows people who have never set foot on a farm to claim European farm subsidies.

The loophole allows investors to become classified officially as farmers and then buy the right to receive annual EU subsidies to cut agricultural production. Because the subsidies are decoupled from the land they relate to, investors do not need actually to own the ground they are claiming for or even go anywhere near it.

The profits to be made are enormous, with investors potentially increasing their capital nearly fivefold in 5 years.