Monday, March 12, 2007
Meat the laws of supply and demand
The Agriculture Department is warning consumers that strong demand for corn from ethanol plants is driving up the cost of livestock and will raise prices for beef, pork and chicken.
As the Associated Press reported on Friday, "Meat and poultry production will fall as producers face higher feed costs, the department said in its monthly crop report. Ethanol fuel, which is blended with gasoline, is consuming 20 percent of last year's corn crop and is expected to gobble up more than 25 percent of this year's crop."
Now, the whole meat product-increase situation has got me to thinkin'; and I have a few questions for anyone who cares to answer 'em for me. To wit:
How come I can't find a poll in which 20 percent of Americans blame the Bush Administration for the rising cost of meat? (A Gallup poll conducted last summer indicated that 20 percent of the voting public blamed President Bush for high gas prices.)
When should we expect congressional hearings seeking to expose nefarious price-gouging schemes initiated by the meat industry's corporate honchos?
When will Senator Harry "Sleepin' at the Ritz" Reid and Representative Nancy "Madame Moonbat" Pelosi flout common sense and suggest that America should dip into its Strategic Meat Reserve ... ?
All kidding aside, the spike in prices for meat products, due to increased grain prices, is no different from last summer's spike in gasoline prices, which was caused by a worldwide increase in the price of oil.
Americans may not (don't) know it, but the Agriculture Department is affording them a valuable tutorial in basic economics: growing demand, coupled with supply pressure, will increase the cost of goods and services.
As the Associated Press reported on Friday, "Meat and poultry production will fall as producers face higher feed costs, the department said in its monthly crop report. Ethanol fuel, which is blended with gasoline, is consuming 20 percent of last year's corn crop and is expected to gobble up more than 25 percent of this year's crop."
Now, the whole meat product-increase situation has got me to thinkin'; and I have a few questions for anyone who cares to answer 'em for me. To wit:
How come I can't find a poll in which 20 percent of Americans blame the Bush Administration for the rising cost of meat? (A Gallup poll conducted last summer indicated that 20 percent of the voting public blamed President Bush for high gas prices.)
When should we expect congressional hearings seeking to expose nefarious price-gouging schemes initiated by the meat industry's corporate honchos?
When will Senator Harry "Sleepin' at the Ritz" Reid and Representative Nancy "Madame Moonbat" Pelosi flout common sense and suggest that America should dip into its Strategic Meat Reserve ... ?
All kidding aside, the spike in prices for meat products, due to increased grain prices, is no different from last summer's spike in gasoline prices, which was caused by a worldwide increase in the price of oil.
Americans may not (don't) know it, but the Agriculture Department is affording them a valuable tutorial in basic economics: growing demand, coupled with supply pressure, will increase the cost of goods and services.
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Monday, March 12, 2007 
