theophilosophilus's Journal: UNReal - UN against biofuels AND farm subsidies

In a recent demonstration of the continued idiocy of the U.N., the AP is reporting that a U.N. sociologist is calling for a halt on biofuel production because it is cutting down on available food sources and driving up prices. The sociologist, Jean Ziegler, even went so far to call biofuel production "a crime against humanity." The idiocy comes in when we discover that the same sociologist has been calling for a moratorium on farm subsidies because they increase production and drive down prices. I'm confused. Which is more devastating to humanity, high production and low prices or low production and high prices? The UN needs to stop letting sociologists do economic research.

Economics works by the maxim, "the greatest way to solve a shortage is a shortage." This maxim holds true as long as there is untapped production. This world has tremendous untapped production. For example, one area is improved efficiency of crop production in third world countries. Increased prices will encourage producers to adopt improved methods of farming in order to capitalize on the new wealth equation. Improved prices will encourage a move from the hard life of subsistence farming in the third world.