Corn

I read this article (Catholic Exchange) about how ethanol (with government subsidies) is raising corn prices and thus all food prices. Hardest hit are the poor (the doubling of the cost of tortillas in Mexico.)

The other side of the story is the poor small farmer. Until this year my neighbor was getting less for a bushel of corn than he was right after World War II ($3 then, $2+ last year.) This year it is finally in the $4 range-which still doesn't keep up with the inflation of over 50 years.

Now I am not saying that corn prices should be artificially raised, but all the underlying issues here are more complex.

For instance, if the Mexican worker was getting a family wage, and the small farmer was getting a just amount for his produce would we even be talking about this? If there were local economies instead of global economies, would we be talking about this? And thus, it is hard to pick on government subsidies of ethanol when the problems are so much deeper.

I do love the articlie's opening line:

Ronald Reagan once said that the most terrifying words in the English language are, "I'm from the government and I'm here to help."

More later.... Oremus pro invicem!