Comments on: Sunday Links

By: Nando

Nando — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 02:04:16 +0000

@ Matt Moore:

Corn is used for everything nowadays. It’s used to create sweeteners (High Fructose Corn Syrup) found in everything these days, as well as the prime feed for all livestock. Not only that, it’s also used in the production of plastics, food dyes, and even to make the paper for food labels! Also, there is a big chunk of corn that is actually exported to other countries and used to feed the poor and undernourished in Africa. All those countries are now suffering higher food prices because of the 20-30% of the corn that will now go to produce ethanol instead of going to the food supply.

You guys should read The Omnivore’s Dilemma, it explains how corn us used now.

By: Frank

Frank — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 00:16:22 +0000

There’s an old Chinese adage that states a man who burns his food starves. We’re seeing that now. Turning corn into whiskey/bourbon is one thing. Turning corn into auto fuel is just plain stupid.

According to David Blume http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/results.asp?WRD=alcohol+can+be+a+gas there are lots of things that can make more ethanol per acre than corn. Among these are cattails. Problem is, the ecofascists from Earth First! to the Sierra Club would shit themselves sideways if we grew ethanol in “their” wetlands…

By: Matt Moore

Matt Moore — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 23:25:41 +0000

Ok, I found that study. It states that ethanol production hasn’t caused the spike in food prices, which is a bit different than saying it didn’t cause the spike in corn prices. Corn is only a small part of our food, obviously.

The study was also funded by the Renewable Fuels Foundation, so, yeah. Probably bogus.

By: dave smith

dave smith — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 22:32:06 +0000

Matt, that is certainly a factor, also. The key is understanding that changes in prices convey a huge amount of info that is very difficult to disentangle.

I cannot believe, however, that ethanol, which is projected to use 30 percent (30 percent!) of US corn (up from 20 percent last year) will have no effect.

And without gov’t subs, the percentage of corn used in ethanol would be really close to zero.

Therefore, the gov’t is largely responsible for high corn prices, which are driving high food prices, and are associated with high prices for other grains and foods.

By: Matt Moore

Matt Moore — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 22:10:45 +0000

I’m not in the pocket of Big Corn, but wasn’t there a study recently that concluded that rising food prices are not due to government interference re: ethanol but rather simply market forces (mostly rising oil prices, IIRC)?

By: dave smith

dave smith — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 22:09:21 +0000

Pat, usually you are right about subsidies…they tend to push prices down.

However, the gov’t is not subsidizing corn, it is subsidizing ethanol. An ethanol subsidy will increase the price of all inputs of ethanol.

By: Nando

Nando — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 20:46:21 +0000

I’ve never supported Ethanol from corn and I’ve lost count of how many people have called me an idiot or unpatriotic for it. I’ve told them all that I would be vindicated in the end and it looks like I”m well on my way. This is one of the few times, however, where I would’ve been happy to be wrong, tho.

I also don’t see how spineless politicians will turn against it, tho. It’s just too important to them to get the Iowa and Nebraska votes (although I don’t see why since they usually vote Republican, anyway, so it’s not like the Dems would have much to lose). It’s not only making it more expensive for us to eat (as all livestock prices go up with the increase of the price in corn), but many parts of the world are suffering for it, too.

By: Mike Leatherwood

Mike Leatherwood — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 20:39:28 +0000

Dallas improves public safety, so red light runners are down, but they idle the cameras because they don’t generate enough revenue??? Screw Dallas. It was never about safety, but rather the promises of money the red light camera salespeople gave.

Screw Dallas x100.

By: Pat

Pat — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 20:26:32 +0000

If demand goes up, and supply goes down the price will rise. They bribe farmers to keep growing and help them stay in business. As a result the supply is bigger than it would be otherwise.

By: Pat

Pat — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 20:22:51 +0000

I don’t like farm state bribes either, but if it there were no subsidies the price of corn would be higher. Look it up.

By: TGGP

TGGP — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 19:09:34 +0000

we’ll be able to look back and see the much of the blame lies not with runaway capitalism, but with all of these ill-advised government distortions of the market.
Who’s this “we”? Certainly not the general public or voters!

By: JJH2

JJH2 — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 18:45:15 +0000

I also can’t help but notice the relative lack of moral opprobrium that attaches to corporate welfare - whether farm subsidies, the Bear Stearns bailout, the airline bailouts, etc - that attaches so often to poor, working mothers on TANF or the citizen-children of illegal immigrants who, horror of horrors, might be participating in a free lunch program while their parents work 60 hours a week at a sub-minimum wage job. If you ever start to wonder why vulgar libertarianism is such an unattractive ideology to the millions on the bottom who have been victimized by government corporatism, well, the fault lies not within our stars…

Rex:
If you’re really concerned with looking for government’s culpability in the collapse of the sub-prime lending market, you might start by looking at the Federal Reserve’s continuous intervention in the money monopoly on behalf of large-scale, capital investment firms and the resultant decrease in the value of the dollar for everyone else.

By: Josh

Josh — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 18:18:45 +0000

I don’t anticipate “Big Corn” ever being dragged up to Congressional hearings, because that would expose the corn state senators who like to speak about obscene corporate welfare *coughTomHarkincough* for supporting obscene corporate welfare.

By: Rex

Rex — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 17:31:18 +0000

Good luck blaming government distortions of the market for the lending alchemy that brought about the CDOs, CLOs, SIVs, AIVs, creative tranching, etc. etc. The bailout of Bear is a disgrace but it wasn’t government involvement that took us to that point.

By: srv

srv — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 17:03:21 +0000

Wondering what you make of a judge trying to take Wesboro Baptist down with a ridiculous $5M lien:

http://cjonline.com/stories/040408/loc_264906171.shtml

By: Michael Pack

Michael Pack — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 16:13:44 +0000

One more thing,for all the angst over farm subsidies[deserved] on this and many site I see worship to the NFL and NCAA basketball.Two of the biggest tax pigs in this country.

By: J Mo

J Mo — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 16:09:07 +0000

The thing I don’t get about the Clinton story, we were supposed to believe Ms. Bachtel was a manager of a Pizza Hut and she was getting paid minimum wage? So she was a manager and she was getting paid the same as her employees? Right. You can tell right there that the story was embellished. She wasn’t just some bum who didn’t have insurance, she was no less than a manager with no insurance and was still struggling to come up with $100. This is why I hate liberals, they blatantly lie to try and make things sound worse than they really are, because these embellished anecdotes are their only way of justifying the socialist programs they endorse. It just kind of proves that this socialist crap isn’t needed when they have to make up sob stories to try and show that they are needed.

By: Michael Pack

Michael Pack — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 14:27:43 +0000

So when will Congress call ‘BIG CORN’ to a hearing and threaten to take away their subsidies?Maybe release grain from the government reserve.Heck,Dallas might even institute price controls on food.What a way to wake up on Sunday.I can’t even go to the S.W.A.T. team link.It’s too depressing.I really like your site though.I read Reason and the comment section is so full of foul language at times it’s to the point of being unreadable.You don’t seem to have that problem here.Thanks.