Lynne Kiesling
Tyler Cowen on income inequality in the NY Times; see also comments from Don Boudreaux at Café Hayek and Mark Thoma at The Economist’s View.
This Technology Review article on EEstor’s new battery-ultracapacitor for energy storage. EEstor claims that their battery hybrid has 10 times the capacity of a traditional battery at half the cost. That seems like a bold claim to me.
This USA Today article discusses how the increased (subsidized) production of ethanol has increased the demand for corn, leading to higher corn prices. These higher corn prices are rippling through the economy, not surprisingly. The article also does a good job of its economics, because it points out that the ripple will include rising soybean prices as farmers shift acreage from soybeans to corn.
Relatedly, see this Times (UK) article on the cool reception among Congressional Democrats to increased ethanol in President Bush’s State of the Union address (with my Midwestern senator, Barack Obama, as a notable exception).
Happy reading!
I am waiting for the ethanol bubble to burst in the next 6 months. At todays $1.42 for gasoline (wholesale) and magically $1.94 for ethanol (wholesale), $4 corn really puts a damper on any profits.
That, or the USA will start importing Brazillian Cane Ethanol, and take the air out of the bubble.
Are there mandates out there stating how much ethanol must be consumed in the US?
JBP
I am waiting for the ethanol bubble to burst in the next 6 months. At todays $1.42 for gasoline (wholesale) and magically $1.94 for ethanol (wholesale), $4 corn really puts a damper on any profits.
That, or the USA will start importing Brazillian Cane Ethanol, and take the air out of the bubble.
Are there mandates out there stating how much ethanol must be consumed in the US?
JBP