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Thread: unintended consequences of ethanol subsidies hit NYC !

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    Banned Melonie's Avatar
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    Default unintended consequences of ethanol subsidies hit NYC !

    (snip)"By CHRISTOPHER FAHERTY
    Special to the Sun
    August 8, 2007

    The country's effort to move away from a dependence on foreign oil and embrace green initiatives appears to be behind a change in one of New York's purest traditions, the menu of the classic steakhouse.

    The production of ethanol, which is made from corn, is one major reason classic cuts of prime beef are becoming more and more expensive, an analyst at the cattle market analysis firm Cattle-Fax, Tod Kalous, said.

    "It's getting worse," the owner of Ben Benson's Steakhouse, Ben Benson, said. "The problems the ranchers are having are making it more difficult because feed is getting more expensive."

    Brooklyn's Peter Luger Steakhouse now serves a rib eye. On some nights at Ben Benson's in Midtown, diners can order buffalo steak. The Old Homestead of the meatpacking district serves one of the city's best Kobe burgers.

    The new menu items at some city steakhouses are a result of an increase in the price of top-notch beef and a decrease in its availability.

    Corn is the primary feed for cattle that produce USDA-grade prime beef. Corn is also the main ingredient for what many believe is the fuel of the future, ethanol. The production of ethanol has not only increased the demand for corn, it has made harvests more profitable for farmers, who receive the fruits of government subsidies when it is sold to ethanol producers.

    Even with the price of prime beef so high, and with Mr. Kalous predicting continued high prices, most steakhouses have yet to pass on the brunt of the drought to the customer."(snip)


    Let me get this straight ... instead of importing as much oil (which is VERY debatable), the corn ethanol subsidies are now causing us to import Kobe beef ?

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    Default Re: unintended consequences of ethanol subsidies hit NYC !

    Why do you post this drivel?

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    Default Re: unintended consequences of ethanol subsidies hit NYC !

    Quote Originally Posted by dlabtot View Post
    Why do you post this drivel?
    Oh, I don't know if I would consider it drivel. It's related to a couple of links I've found posted on another mb, the first one being very related,

    http://www.foreignaffairs.org/200705...-the-poor.html

    with the second being more OT. and possibly already posted in the Den by Melonie or someone else, but I believe a little related in the long run. Anyone for a New Great Depression, courtesy of our "leaders"?

    http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/9221

    Personally, I find both of these links depressing.

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    Banned Eric Stoner's Avatar
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    Default Re: unintended consequences of ethanol subsidies hit NYC !

    Quote Originally Posted by Melonie View Post
    http://www.nysun.com/article/60032

    (snip)"By CHRISTOPHER FAHERTY
    Special to the Sun
    August 8, 2007

    The country's effort to move away from a dependence on foreign oil and embrace green initiatives appears to be behind a change in one of New York's purest traditions, the menu of the classic steakhouse.

    The production of ethanol, which is made from corn, is one major reason classic cuts of prime beef are becoming more and more expensive, an analyst at the cattle market analysis firm Cattle-Fax, Tod Kalous, said.

    "It's getting worse," the owner of Ben Benson's Steakhouse, Ben Benson, said. "The problems the ranchers are having are making it more difficult because feed is getting more expensive."

    Brooklyn's Peter Luger Steakhouse now serves a rib eye. On some nights at Ben Benson's in Midtown, diners can order buffalo steak. The Old Homestead of the meatpacking district serves one of the city's best Kobe burgers.

    The new menu items at some city steakhouses are a result of an increase in the price of top-notch beef and a decrease in its availability.

    Corn is the primary feed for cattle that produce USDA-grade prime beef. Corn is also the main ingredient for what many believe is the fuel of the future, ethanol. The production of ethanol has not only increased the demand for corn, it has made harvests more profitable for farmers, who receive the fruits of government subsidies when it is sold to ethanol producers.

    Even with the price of prime beef so high, and with Mr. Kalous predicting continued high prices, most steakhouses have yet to pass on the brunt of the drought to the customer."(snip)


    Let me get this straight ... instead of importing as much oil (which is VERY debatable), the corn ethanol subsidies are now causing us to import Kobe beef ?

    The Law of Unintended Consequences strikes again. Yet one more example of Government trying to solve one problem and creating another. Just wait until Hillary and the Dems get their hands on our Health Care System !!!! Oh the caterwauling that will be heard then
    as health care gets rationed ; waiting lists begin ; access is curtailed etc.etc.

    The ethanol subsidies have warped the market. The most efficient source for ethanol is NOT corn. It is sugar cane and sugar beets neither of which is grown in- guess where ? I O W A . And not too much of which is grown any more in guess where ? F L O R I D A ; as so much farm land has been converted to condos and houses. Not that the Iowa Caucuses and the Florida Primary would have anything to do with setting sensible energy and agricultural policies.
    Last edited by Eric Stoner; 08-09-2007 at 12:19 PM.

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    Default Re: unintended consequences of ethanol subsidies hit NYC !

    Quote Originally Posted by PhaedrusZ View Post
    Oh, I don't know if I would consider it drivel. It's related to a couple of links I've found posted on another mb, the first one being very related,

    http://www.foreignaffairs.org/200705...-the-poor.html

    with the second being more OT. and possibly already posted in the Den by Melonie or someone else, but I believe a little related in the long run. Anyone for a New Great Depression, courtesy of our "leaders"?

    http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/9221

    Personally, I find both of these links depressing.
    The ridiculous story that Melonie posted trivializes the real issue that is addressed in your foreign affairs link.

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    Banned Eric Stoner's Avatar
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    Default Re: unintended consequences of ethanol subsidies hit NYC !

    Quote Originally Posted by dlabtot View Post
    The ridiculous story that Melonie posted trivializes the real issue that is addressed in your foreign affairs link.
    Not at all. Both Melonie's story AND the Foreign Affairs piece illustrate the same thing- Government subsidies usually cause MORE problems than they solve.They alter markets and interfere with the basic laws of supply and demand. Designed to promote production of one thing or support one area of the economy they usually result in shortages and hardships elsewhere.
    Converting food to fuel is a poor choice especially when there are alternatives to using corn. Ironically it also takes a LOT of energy to produce ethanol and it takes a LOT more energy to produce it from corn than from sugar beets or sugar cane.
    Additionally the world as a whole would be a little healthier with reduced sugar consumption. If they DID grow sugar cane in IOWA then the Government would probably subsidize that instead of corn. The only downside being increased sugar prices which actually might BENEFIT
    3rd World economies dependent on it - (Haiti and other Caribbean and Central American countries) AND decreased sugar consumption which would eventually impact dentists and diabetologists in a negative way.

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    Default Re: unintended consequences of ethanol subsidies hit NYC !

    ^^^ again I was simply amazed by the logical contradictions invoked by our gov't in regard to ethanol. The reason that we aren't swimming in ethanol which could be sold for a $1 per gallon lower price than US corn based ethanol is that the US gov't has 'protected' US ethanol producers via enacting import quotas which keep out Brazilian sugar cane ethanol, and by enacting tariffs which add 56 cents per gallon to the price of imported ethanol (but not US produced ethanol).

    However, where US Beef producers are concerned, it's an entirely different story. The US gov't allows them to be saddled with rapidly increasing cattle feed costs, and does nothing to limit the import of foreign beef.

    Of course most of the cattle ranchers are from 'red' states, whereas many of the corn farmers and ethanol refineries are in 'blue' states or 'swing' states ... but that of course has absolutely nothing to do with anything according to the politicians.

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    Default Re: unintended consequences of ethanol subsidies hit NYC !

    The first time I ran into that article I laughed. New York having a shortage of steaks is the least of our problems.

    I love how some spin this as a reason not to even how bio fuels. When in reality, the only reason it is this way, is once again the government. If they would stop paying people to not farm this would go away. Looks like it is going to shape into another "oil". Instead of being at the mercy of large oil companies and the government now it will be at the mercy of industrial farms and the government. Only during the transition we will get fucked by both.
    Nature knows no indecencies; man invents them. ~ Mark Twain


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