Amartya Sen tentang krisis harga pangan

biofuel ▪ energi ▪ kebijakan ▪

Amartya Sen, pemenang hadiah Nobel ekonomi untuk penelitiannya tentang kemiskinan, juga khawatir tentang tren konversi bahan makanan menjadi etanol. Dari New York Times:

It is a tale of two peoples. In one version of the story, a country with a lot of poor people suddenly experiences fast economic expansion, but only half of the people share in the new prosperity. The favored ones spend a lot of their new income on food, and unless supply expands very quickly, prices shoot up. The rest of the poor now face higher food prices but no greater income, and begin to starve. Tragedies like this happen repeatedly in the world.
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There is also a high-tech version of the tale of two peoples. Agricultural crops like corn and soybeans can be used for making ethanol for motor fuel. So the stomachs of the hungry must also compete with fuel tanks.

HT: Greg Mankiw.

Lihat juga posting ini untuk analisis teknis tentang (tidak efisiennya) etanol.