Ethanol Craze Brings Unintended Consequences

Summary

---

WASHINGTON -- The historical significance of corn in the Americas is comparable to that of rice in China or wheat in the Middle East. Corn is more than a staple, it is part of the region's DNA -- which explains the hysteria in many Latin American countries over rising prices.

In just four years, leaders and organizations that style themselves as progressive have gone from denouncing the precipitous fall in the price of corn to denouncing its sharp climb -- with many of the same arguments! Hardly a week goes by in which Cuba's Fidel Castro or Venezuela's Hugo Chavez is not accusing rich imperialists of deliberately pumping up the price of corn in order to impoverish Latin Americans. But in 2003, when corn prices were dropping dramatically, Phil Twyford of Oxfam, a left-oriented humanitarian organization, pontificated, "The Mexican corn crisis is another example of world trade rules that are rigged to help the rich and powerful, while destroying the livelihoods of millions of poor people."

See the full content of this document

Extract

---

Ethanol Craze Brings Unintended Consequences

The rise in corn prices since 2006 has much to do with the synthetic fuel ethanol, which is made from a corn base or from sugar cane and is heavily subsidized by the United States ...

See the full content of this document

---