Monsanto vs. Whole Foods

The WSJ (subscription required) reported that aversion to genetically modified foods have fallen by the wayside as food prices around the globe have sky-rocketed. This is a pleasing trend since the fear of GMO’s is highly politicized and in my opinion, highly irrational. There is absolutely no evidence that genetically modified foods are harmful to humans despite all the ravings of environmentalists. Genetically modified foods are safe, cheaper, and will yield more staple crops needed by the world’s poor and hungry. Note that organic food providers haven’t fared very well as food prices have climbed; this goes to show that at this point, organic foods are essentially a luxury item for rich societies.

True Progressivism

From Don Boudreaux over at Café Hayek

According to today's Wall Street Journal, Barack Obama alleges that "Globalization and technology and automation all weaken the position of workers." If this presidential wannabe is correct, then some of the world's most prosperous workers must be the people in that newly discovered tribe in Brazil -- persons with absolutely no contact with the global economy or with modern technology.

Less extreme cases, of course, include persons not so cut off from the world as these Brazilian tribes. Sub-Saharan Africans should be more prosperous than eastern Europeans, who, in turn, should be more prosperous than Americans and western Europeans.

Of course, if the facts don't follow this pattern, then I guess that Sen. Obama will soon publicly apologize for either misspeaking or admit that his thesis is flawed.

Comment: The Democrats have been bashing free-trade at every turn as if it were the worst thing since the plague: Attempting to re-negotiate free-trade treaties will not bolster our image either. And “fair-trade” is just a code word for protecting union interests over the interests of everybody else. Maybe if we all went back to running around in loin cloths and put an end to globalization and technology would we get the worker equality that Barack speaks of.