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Anu maheshwari
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According to Prez Bush , Indians should starve????
May 5, 2008 - 02:22 PM
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Bush blames India for higher food prices
This is clearly one of the most ridiculous and insenstive statement from the US government.
Somehow Prez Bush can't see any problem with their shift from agriculture to agri-business, their trade practices, the shift from corn to ethanol etc etc...
[i]The US President George W Bush, on Friday, sought to put the blame, albeit partly, of the rising food prices on increase in demand of better nutrition from the burgeoning Indian middle class.
The statement from the US President comes a few days after the Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, had made a similar remark on the rising food prices, wherein she argued that improvement in diets of people in India and China has been responsible for this.
Explaining the reason for rise in food prices to a Japanese-American who posed a question to Bush on this issue at a function in Maryland Heights in Missouri, the US President said: ''Just as an interesting thought for you, there are 350 million people in India who are classified as middle class. That's bigger than America. Their middle class is larger than our entire population.''
Bush said: ''When you start getting wealth, you start demanding better nutrition and better food, and so demand is high, and that causes the price to go up.'' He, however, did not subscribe to the notion that ethanol is the main cost driver for the food prices going up
In fact, besides Bush and Rice, during the past one week, several similar statements have emanated from US leadership in which they have tended to attribute the rising food prices to the increase in food demand from India and China.
At a Congressional economic committee hearing on food costs Thursday, influential Senator Charles Schumer said: ''Bad weather, like droughts in Australia and Eastern Europe and reduced production in Canada, Western Europe and the Ukraine have put world grain stocks at historically low levels as demand has grown, especially in places like China and India.''
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This post was edited on: 2008-05-05 at 02:23 PM by: anuriandima84
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Anu maheshwari
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Re: According to Prez Bush , Indians should starve????
May 5, 2008 - 02:23 PM
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continued ......
Joseph Glauber, Chief Economist at the Department of Agriculture, tended to put the blame on the export restrictions of food grains imposed by countries like India. Many exporting countries have put in place export restrictions in an effort to reduce domestic food price inflation, he said.
''Export countries as diverse as Argentina, China, India, Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Vietnam have placed additional taxes or restrictions on exports of grains, rice, oilseeds and other products. By reducing supplies available for world commerce, these actions only exacerbate the surge in global commodity prices,'' Glauber observed during the Congressional hearing.
Tom Buis, president of the National Farmer's Union also believed the same. Deposing before the Congressional Committee Buis argued that increased demand from developing economies around the world in India and China where more people are adding extra meals to their diet is one of the major factors responsible for increase in food prices. This is in addition to the jumping crude oil prices and worldwide weather production problem.
US faces the heat
Recently, there has been substantial increase in food prices in the US. For instance, cost of pasta went up over 13 per cent, a regular loaf of bread 12 per cent, Schumer said.
''A pound of beans is 17 per cent higher. Flour is up a whopping 32 per cent. The next one: milk, a staple, 20 per cent higher a gallon. Buying a dozen eggs is 30 per cent more expensive than it was last year,'' he said.
Addressing a press conference in Washington, the House Minority Leader, John A Boehner, observed that people from India and China are demanding better food as their economy begin to grow.
''So when you begin to look at the demand coming from India and China and other developing countries for better diets at home, you can see that this world food shortage that we have is real,'' he argued.
Meanwhile, Olivier De Schutter, the new Special Rapporteur on the right to food, at a press conference at the UN called for convening of a special session of the UN Human Rights Council to address the world food crisis. He termed it as a ''silent tsunami''.
Schutter said action is needed to combat climate change and mitigate its impact on agricultural production, which is expected to be particularly severe in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.[/i]
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davyk
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Re: According to Prez Bush , Indians should starve????
May 6, 2008 - 02:37 AM
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blame game will not solve the issue at hand. its a shme that the warmonger can stoop so low. Or is ti that they no longer know what to do?
So people are not allowed to improve their way of life?
thats pathetic.
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Luke Lieberman
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Re: According to Prez Bush , Indians should starve????
May 6, 2008 - 11:34 AM
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Anu - you are going to have to help me - why are you determined to view these statements in the most negative light.
"When you start getting wealth, you start demanding better nutrition and better food, and so demand is high, and that causes the price to go up." - this is the statement that has you upset?
I am certain many people have suggested that American consumption is partly to blame for hte food crisis - should I get all indignant "what you want us to starve!"
This is really kind of silly - it is a FACT that food demand is rising in China and India - those two countries have 1/3 of the worlds population so naturally it would effect food prices if demand rises in those two countries.
Now - Anu ISN"T demand rising in India? isn't the Indian middle-class on the rise?
I think it is a positive development that Indians are being lifted from poverty to middle-class - same with the Chinese -
but this ascendancy will present the world with challenges in terms of both food and fuel.
It is entirely accurate to say that oil prices are effected by increased demand from China and India - it doesn't mean you shouldn't drive cars - but it obviously has an effect on oil prices.
I think that given the pressing nature of these problems - that it is counter-productive to get indignant over accurate statements. And rather then be divisive we should come together politically & scientifically to develop solutions.
When I first clicked on this I thought he said something really wrong - but you are hyperbolizing this issue.
also - Corn Ethanol production in the US is in its infancy - it is not having any real impact right now.
I do not want to see it become the dominant fuel source - it is the wrong way to go - Green Algae is the bio fuel of the future.
but Corn Ethanol production is not eating up that much corn at this point.
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prieten47
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Re: According to Prez Bush , Indians should starve????
May 6, 2008 - 08:40 PM
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The side issue here is this: China and India are supposedly "improving" their diets. I don't know about India where many are vegetarian, but this improvement usually means higher meat consumption. It is well-known that commercial meat production uses far more grain than a person would consume by him or herself.
"Improving" probably also means more sugars, fats and carbohydrates are entering the diets of India and China. I assume they will also soon be afflicted with the same cardiovascular diseases that Americans and Europeans have been battling for decades.
I agree with Luke that for once Bush didn't really say anything that bad, but simply described what is driving world food prices. To assume he wants Indians to starve is to assume they were starving before this alleged "improvement" occurred. I don't think that was the case.
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davyk
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Re: According to Prez Bush , Indians should starve????
May 7, 2008 - 10:45 AM
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i think i have found an article on this topic and it really is interesting to read.
follow the link and enjoy reading the article.
http://www.herald.co.zw/inside.aspx?sectid=33902&cat=8
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Anu maheshwari
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Re: According to Prez Bush , Indians should starve????
May 7, 2008 - 01:42 PM
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Luke , discussing the causes of global rise in food prices is fine. But have you checked out the way Bush discussed it or rather made this comment. here is the text ...
Q That's right. Good point. (Applause.) And I ask this partly because I'm hungry, but your thoughts on rising food prices?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, thank you. (Laughter.) By the way, that's a polite way of saying, hey, man, how about cutting it short. (Laughter.) You know, it's a very interesting debate that's taking place. There's two aspects of rising food prices; one, how it affects our own citizens. And again, we're spending billions of dollars on people who can't afford food, and that's good. We don't have a scarcity issue in America, interestingly enough; we got a price issue. Our shelves aren't going empty, it's just costing more money. And it's why, for example, we've expanded Women and Infants with Children Program, to make sure we help the poor.
Secondly, there is scarcity in the world, and I happen to believe, when we find people who can't find food, we ought to help them find it. I just told you why: There's nothing more hopeless than to be a mom wondering whether or not their child is going to get food the next day.
By the way, just so you know, America is by far the most generous nation when it comes to helping the hungry. No contest. We're an unbelievably compassionate nation. And so I asked Congress to put some more money out. It will be over -- it's about $5 billion, over a two-year period of time, of food. Keep in mind, we're spending about $19 billion here at home.
Secondly, I think we ought to change our food policy in Africa and other developing countries. I think we ought to be buying food directly from farmers, as opposed to giving people food. I think we ought to be saying, why don't we help you be able to deal with scarcity by encouraging your farmers to grow and be efficient growers. Otherwise we're going to be in this cycle forever.
Now let me talk about price. As you know, I'm a ethanol person. I believe, as I told you, the interim step to getting away from oil and gas is to go to ethanol and battery technologies for your automobiles
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[link="http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/05/20080502-8.html"]
This post was edited on: 2008-05-07 at 01:44 PM by: anuriandima84
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Anu maheshwari
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Re: According to Prez Bush , Indians should starve????
May 7, 2008 - 01:43 PM
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continued
. I think it makes sense for America to be growing energy. I'd much rather be paying our farmers when we go to the gas pump than paying some nation that may not like us.
And so -- but most of ethanol now -- or nearly all of ethanol now -- is produced as a result of corn. And the price of corn is real high now. And so people say, well, it's your renewable fuels policy that is causing the price of food to go up. I've looked at this issue a lot. Actually, the reason why food prices are high now is because, one, energy costs are high. And if you're a farmer, you're going to pass on your cost of energy in the product you sell; otherwise you go broke. And when you're paying more for your diesel, paying more for your fertilizer because it's got a lot of natural gas in it -- in other words, when your basic costs are going up, so does the cost of food.
Worldwide there is increasing demand. There turns out to be prosperity in developing world, which is good. It's going to be good for you because you'll be selling products into countries -- big countries perhaps -- and it's hard to sell products into countries that aren't prosperous. In other words, the more prosperous the world is, the more opportunity there is.
It also, however, increases demand. So, for example, just as an interesting thought for you, there are 350 million people in India who are classified as middle class. That's bigger than America. Their middle class is larger than our entire population. And when you start getting wealth, you start demanding better nutrition and better food. And so demand is high, and that causes the price to go up.
And finally, there's been weather-related problems. Some of the major producers of food have had drought. That's what happens. Weather patterns change. And so there's a lot of reasons why the price of food is high. And no question that ethanol has had a part of it, but I simply do not subscribe to the notion that it is the main cost-driver for your food going up.
Anyway, good question. You don't look hungry. (Laughter.)
Yes
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Anu maheshwari
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Re: According to Prez Bush , Indians should starve????
May 7, 2008 - 01:59 PM
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The person who we are talking about is the president of the United States not an ordinary man discussing the price rise over a drink.
When a person in that position makes such condescending comments there are likely to be some repercussions.
And blaming consumerism is different from blaming the price rise on increased demand for basic neccessity.
The only ruse that some might have against India and other rice exporting Asian countries is that they have either increased the export duty on rice or banned the exports.....
But in this case it was a neccessary step for creating domestic stabilty.
This post was edited on: 2008-05-07 at 02:02 PM by: anuriandima84
This post was edited on: 2008-05-07 at 02:19 PM by: anuriandima84
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Arslan Jumaniyazov
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Re: According to Prez Bush , Indians should starve????
May 7, 2008 - 04:45 PM
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Hi Anu,
You know perfectly well that I am no fan of Bush and have no interest in defending his policies. But here I think your take on Bush's words is a bit overblown. I have read carefully the statements you mentioned, but I still haven't seen the indication that Bush is complaining about the rise of middle-class in India and China. Or am I not getting it?
Best,
Arslan
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Merlyn
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Re: According to Prez Bush , Indians should starve????
May 7, 2008 - 06:16 PM
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Dear All,
Ms.Anu here is right, Bush didnt drop the reference to India by an influx of mere innocence or happenstance or coincidential spark in his head which somehow associated India and food crisis to each other.
Bush, the not so bright persona as he is, is still not all that too not bright either. His mention of India comes in exactly the moment when the political friction are conspicious between the two countries and just another twist - this time making a bystander status comment about their middle class - will drop in handy onto the ears of those privy.
The message was delivered to India, although it wasn't about the food in its essence.
Learn to read between the lines.
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Luke Lieberman
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Re: According to Prez Bush , Indians should starve????
May 7, 2008 - 09:40 PM
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"Worldwide there is increasing demand. There turns out to be prosperity in developing world, which is good. It's going to be good for you because you'll be selling products into countries -- big countries perhaps -- and it's hard to sell products into countries that aren't prosperous. In other words, the more prosperous the world is, the more opportunity there is.
It also, however, increases demand. So, for example, just as an interesting thought for you, there are 350 million people in India who are classified as middle class. That's bigger than America. Their middle class is larger than our entire population. And when you start getting wealth, you start demanding better nutrition and better food. And so demand is high, and that causes the price to go up."
I can't see anything in here that is offensive - really Anu - whats the big deal? He is saying plainly that India's increasing affluence is a good thing - but that is presents an increase in demand -
Please quote for me the exact phrases that you think mean he is asking Indians to starve. I just don't see it.
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Anu maheshwari
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Re: According to Prez Bush , Indians should starve????
May 9, 2008 - 02:50 PM
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Its not so simple as that ....
India has been quite food self-sufficient after the Green revolution...Infact India is the second /third largest exporter of rice...Earlier India was forced to export its agricultural yield to the west to earn foreign exchange.
After the Green revolution it was in a position to export the surplus.
And now as a precautionary measure to safeguard India's food self -suffiency the Indian govt hiked the export duties on rice.
And then the comment about the generous US govt which always puts the need of less advantages nations before itself and contrasting it with India where he hinted that its the increased standard of living which has contributed to the price rise !
That is indeed a cruel joke from one who supported the diversion of essential food grains to produce bio-fuels there by triggering a low supply- high demand- increase in cost -cycle....
It is rather absurd to blame the price rise on the rise of the Indian middle class.
In fact the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) has also confirmed that Bio-fuels contribute majorly in the price rise something which Prez brushes off...
[link="http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Biofuels-caused-food-price-rise-UN-ESCAP/290242/1"]
I do agree that India(512.4 kg per capita consumption) and China ( 1138.3 kg) are consuming more energy now but compared to US per capita consumption i.e 7794.8 kg ....they still have a lot of catching up to do...
[link="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_energy_consumption_per_capita"]
Prez Bush has very cleverly indulged in a kind of laymen talk without any concrete facts to absolve his government's involvement in the crisis and putting the blame squarely on developing nations like India and China....
This post was edited on: 2008-05-09 at 02:53 PM by: anuriandima84
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