The Vanishing Corn

It is ironic that the corn for the July Fourth lobster boil cost as much as the lobster did. This surge in corn cost is one of the perils of ethanol, or more to the point, an illustration of how when government manipulates a market, it ruins it. Yes, drought and other weather is a factor in rising corn prices, but this staple used to be so cheap that it was routinely used as animal feed before so much corn was diverted from food and former agricultural uses to grab the government ethanol subsidy. Who could possibly contend that this subsidy has kept fuel prices down when gasoline spiked over four dollars a gallon after ethanol was both heavily subsidized by government and mandated?