Regis Philbin
Feb 8th, 2007, 08:14 PM
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZmNlNjI3MTk0MmQ4ZTNkMzBkODNjODJjYTAxN2UwNjU=
Stick Ethanol in the Museum of Unintended Consequences
Washington has found a way to raise the price of fuel and tortillas at the same time.
By Deroy Murdock
Many Democrats and some Republicans applauded President Bush’s State-of-the-Union proposal for a 20 percent reduction in gasoline use over the next ten years, largely through greater reliance on ethanol.
Bush’s idea, however, is adding corn-based fuel to the fire in Mexico City. Existing federal laws that mandate ethanol in U.S. gasoline have diverted trainloads of corn from America’s food supply-chain to ethanol factories. This boosted U.S. corn prices nearly 80 percent in 2006.
That’s bad enough if you buy corn on the cob for a weekend barbecue. But it’s much worse if you are a poor Mexican surviving on corn tortillas. The price of a kilo (2.2 pounds) of tortillas recently has shot up 55 percent, from 5.5 to 8.5 pesos. Poor Mexicans are not taking this sitting down.
In fact, some 75,000 of them stood up on January 31 in Mexico City’s giant Zocalo plaza. More than 200 unions and social-action groups organized protests to denounce the rising price of this basic Mexican staple.
“[Felipe] Calderon stole the elections, and now he’s stealing the tortillas!” screamed one banner, chiding Mexico’s narrowly elected, new president. According to the Associated Press, the normally free-market Calderon has been trying to get manufacturers to follow a gentlemen’s agreement to keep tortilla prices flat.
Stick Ethanol in the Museum of Unintended Consequences
Washington has found a way to raise the price of fuel and tortillas at the same time.
By Deroy Murdock
Many Democrats and some Republicans applauded President Bush’s State-of-the-Union proposal for a 20 percent reduction in gasoline use over the next ten years, largely through greater reliance on ethanol.
Bush’s idea, however, is adding corn-based fuel to the fire in Mexico City. Existing federal laws that mandate ethanol in U.S. gasoline have diverted trainloads of corn from America’s food supply-chain to ethanol factories. This boosted U.S. corn prices nearly 80 percent in 2006.
That’s bad enough if you buy corn on the cob for a weekend barbecue. But it’s much worse if you are a poor Mexican surviving on corn tortillas. The price of a kilo (2.2 pounds) of tortillas recently has shot up 55 percent, from 5.5 to 8.5 pesos. Poor Mexicans are not taking this sitting down.
In fact, some 75,000 of them stood up on January 31 in Mexico City’s giant Zocalo plaza. More than 200 unions and social-action groups organized protests to denounce the rising price of this basic Mexican staple.
“[Felipe] Calderon stole the elections, and now he’s stealing the tortillas!” screamed one banner, chiding Mexico’s narrowly elected, new president. According to the Associated Press, the normally free-market Calderon has been trying to get manufacturers to follow a gentlemen’s agreement to keep tortilla prices flat.