The Ethanol Papers - Paperturn manuscript - Flipbook - Page 610
In the meantime, let me drop this little pearl on you: In 2008, when Bryce wrote
GUSHER OF LIES, a $4 retail box of corn flakes cereal contained about 6 cents
worth of corn. So if corn prices rose 50% there would be about 9 cents worth of
corn. If the price of corn rose 100% there would be about 12 cents worth of
corn. Hmm, 6 cents, 4 dollars, 6 cents, 4 dollars. Even if the supermarket made
100% profit, which they don’t, there would be a big difference between 6 cents
and 4 dollars. No, the price of food did not rise because ethanol pushed the
price of corn up too high.
Food prices increased during the time that Bryce refers to in his book because
of “transportation costs.” Not because corn ethanol was being used by the delivery trucks and freight trains, but because of higher gasoline and diesel costs.
The transportation costs, which were unrelated to rising corn prices and/or ethanol production, was the culprit.
Food costs also increased because of marketing costs which are related to
packaging cost increases. One of the reasons for packaging cost increases is
the higher printing costs due to inks costing more. The inks are manufactured
from petroleum oil.
In the time period during which Bryce wrote GUSHER OF LIES oil prices were
at all-time highs. Gasoline and diesel prices were also at their highest levels.
Anyone with half a brain and a modicum of business sense would have understood how the high transportation costs would affect retail prices. But no, not
Robert Bryce nor all the economic experts that he interviewed for his book, he
allowed himself to live in a bubble world where he must have been wetting his
pants on a daily basis over the belief that that ethanol produced from corn was
having devastating effects on food prices.
But yet, corn prices did rise during that time, and The World Bank originally said
it was because of ethanol production. Or did they? Yes, they did. In the face of
logic, they accused ethanol (they also could have pulled their heads out of the
sand and taken a look at gasoline prices, but they like Bryce stayed indoors, so
to speak).
