Say Anything Blog

Yesterday I saw an article on some protests in Mexico over the rising price of tortillas. Tortillas are a food staple there and have recently gone up almost 25% in price. And that’s having an effect on the poor and lower middle classes who have only so much to spend on, well, living.

The reason for the price increase?

The new demand for corn produced ethanol in the United States has driven up the price of corn. Which brings a couple of questions to mind.

I haven’t researched this, but I wonder, Mexico aside, just how much corn, wheat, and other agricultural products we ship to the Middle East each year, or to Central and South America, where Hugo Chavez makes his anti-American noises? And just what percentage of their overall food imports they constitute?

What would the impact on their economies be if we manipulated the price of those products the way they manipulate oil? Or if we slowed down or withheld our massive exports altogether? And not just on their economies. On their very quality of life.

I know, I know..... there would be an impact on our economy, too. But I think their’s would be way out of proportion to ours if something like this should happen There are smarter people that me out there when it comes to world economics who could perhaps explain it to me, but I think we could have a weapon right at our fingertips to offset the constant threat of our oil being taken away.

We might have to pay more for a gallon of gas but we’ll get it back because you’ll have to pay a lot more for a bushel of corn to feed your people. Play nice or grow your own food. In the sand.

The impact of a relatively minor issue with corn imports in Mexico is obvious according to yesterday’s news. A major issue could be catastrophic. We’re generous, the world’s bread basket. Maybe it’s time we rethink that for our own sake.

Boy, I can’t wait for the lefties to pound me on this one.