there was swift recognition that while strong prices offer long term benefits for farmers the short to medium term impacts on poor consumers are predominantly negative the current emphasis on the harm that high prices inflict on developing country consumers as opposed to the harm that low prices inflict on farmers with net sales has led to charges of inconsistency being levelled at international organisations in general eg swinnen although oecd was always careful to note that price changes in either direction create winners and losers distortionary policies are inefficient as well as being inequitable in terms of their domestic effects oecd oecd and globally they prevent resources from being allocated in an efficient way even if concerns about the pattern of winners and losers have shifted compared to the period when prices were low