Too many things have gotten into my stack, so we’ll just present them as bite sized chunks, starting with a tidbit on the rice shortage and the amazing shrinking dollar
The best way to alleviate a shortage is to take stuff from where there’s extra, and send it someplace else that doesn’t have quite as much. Usually, this is done in exchange for currency. We call this process trade, and it works best when people can do it freely. And so how are governments responding to the rice “shortage”? By restricting trade — keeping their extras and denying it to those without. It gets worse. Even though “adequate rainfall and sunshine have boosted yields” in India, the government still won’t allow any exports. Jimmy Carter tried something similar with gasoline — mandating that all stations stay filled up, even rural ones where demand was low — resulting in long lines in high-demand urban areas. CommodityOnline’s Gary Dorsch says it’s not just rice, noting that “soybeans are up 83%, corn up 65%, wheat up 95%, sugar up 30%, coffee up 25%, gold up 36%, and rough rice is 125% higher from a year ago.” And the dollar is down to record lows against — well, pretty much everything. The Fed has destroyed the dollar’s international purchasing power, with the connivance of an eternally overspending Congress. And we’re shocked, shocked when a weaker dollar means higher prices?
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Is the rice shortage real? It sure is, if only just barely; demand is expected to outstrip supply this year by less than 1%. But like most shortages, this one is being exacerbated by politicians ignoring the most fundamental of all laws — the one of unintended consequences.
That’s really rich… the law of unintended consequences. More often than not, micro-managing anything, but especially the American economy, will get you a first class review of the law of unintended consequences. Speaking of which, how’s that great ethanol deal doing these days? Not so hot, eh? The best response, if you’re a politician, is to jump out front in the new direction and pretend you were leading that way all along
Members of Congress say they overreached by pushing ethanol on consumers and will move to roll back federal supports for it — the latest sure signal that Congress’ appetite for corn-based ethanol has collapsed as food and gas prices have shot up.
House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer said Democrats will use the pending farm bill to reduce the subsidy, while Republicans are looking to go further, rolling back government rules passed just four months ago that require blending ethanol into gasoline.
Coming a day after our local paper reported April as being 6 degrees colder than normal, and the water content of the area snowpack 10% over normal, I found this next one especially delicious. Didn’t I see AlGore on the cable last weekend, on a program about the 10 most likely ways the Earth will end? Global warming is #1, in case you hadn’t heard. He was explaining to the program hostess that there was NO disagreement, the science is settled, etc etc… it’s tough keeping your cool when you’re the Nobel prize winner for hot air. Maybe this will help
The allegedly warming earth is in for about 30 years of cooling according to NASA, one of the leading global warming theory advocates.
NASA has confirmed that a developing natural climate pattern will likely result in much colder temperatures, according to Marc Shepherd, writing in the April 30 American Thinker. He adds that NASA was also quick to point out that such natural phenomena should not confuse the issue of manmade greenhouse gas induced global warming which apparently will be going on behind the scenes while our teeth are chattering from a decade and a half long cold spell.
And hey, it’s May Day, fellow workers!
Given a little time, any one of these would be worth a post by itself. But today, it’s best not to dwell on any of these too long. I think it’ll make me crazy. er. I mean crazy-er.
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