Monday, February 21, 2011

Great Moments in Research: the Looming Global Food Crisis

An economist at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government has this to say.  Allow me to cut to the chase:
In conclusion, increasing food prices is a major problem, especially in poor nations with large urban populations. The increases cause political instability, bad economic decisions and real hardship. The US contributes to this problem with its ethanol program; to a lesser extent, China does, too, with stockpiling.
Well, DUH!  Meanwhile, we continue to pursue the colossally idiotic boondoggle known as ethanol.  I can't resist quoting from the report:
The US ethanol subsidy diverted more than 100 million metric tons of corn into ethanol last year. This did little to reduce global warming, and made basic grains and meat more expensive for most people in the world.
This is an outrage.  What would Norman Borlaug do?

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