Farm Bill and the Political Parties

From professor Mankiw's blog

La Situación Alimentaria Mundial

Hispanoparlantes,
IFPRI acaba de publicar recientemente la versión en español de su excelente reporte sobre la crisis alimentaria:

Informe sobre politica alimentaria 18
La Situación Alimentaria Mundial
Nuevos factores y acciones necesarias
Joachim von Braun
Diciembre 2007

the garden

Farm Bill

Unfortunately, the unprecedented prices US farmers are getting for their crops were not high enough to convince the congress to stop subsiding agricultural production; what's worse, they actually increased the hangouts!!
The insignificant increases in nutrition assistance to the poor at home and abroad, conservation, farmers markets, organic food, and minority farmers also part of the Farm Bill, do not hide the fact that there is still millions of dollars going to wealthy farmers. Both editorial pages of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal criticized the measure, showing the hypocrisy of parties across the isle that succumb to the interest of agribusiness lobbying groups and not the majority of taxpayer Americans, not to mention the millions across the world that will be affected by these policies.

For a good list of reasons to oppose this bill check out the blog of Harvard's Professor Greg Mankiw gregmankiw.blogspot.com (may 14th post)

new job

Hi Readers!
Sorry I haven't posted much lately but I been very busy with my new job at Fabretto Children's Foundation. I'll be writing proposals and projects for projects in agriculture, education and rural development. Check our website or see this vido about the NGO
Best,

Jobs with Development Contractor

Hola readers,
Last week, the Society for International Development hosted its Annual Career Fair. Besides having the opportunity to talk to employers from different sectors of the international development arena, invitees had also the opportunity to see thoughtful presentations on the latests trends in International Development and the implication of such trends for jobs in the sector.

One presentation that i really enjoyed was by Tony Barclay, Chief Executive Officer of Development Alternatives Inc. He talked about the type of work contractors do and how it has change over the years. He also spend some time describing the set of skills needed to work with contractors and how the job market both on the demand and supply side is changing for those interested in entry level positions. Mr. Barclay agreed to share with the readers of this blog his presentation, which I'm sure some of you will find very useful. Find it HERE.

Stay tunned as more and more material will be available under the "4s" tab

Una columna para ignorar

Otra columna del El Tiempo por Jorge Restrepo que utiliza la crisis alimentaría para criticar el libre mercado sin darse cuenta que fue la falta de libre mercado la que llevo en gran parte a esta crisis.
Comentario en respuesta al articulo: No se cual con que argumento el Dr. Restrepo defiende su tesis de que “mercantilismo perdió su guerra contra la acción estatal sobre todo en asistencia y regulación”. Si algo podemos concluir de la crisis de los precios de la comida es que es, precisamente, la regulación excesiva del gobierno lo que ha causado en gran parte esta crisis catastrófica. Pueda que resulte más rentable sembrar maíz para producir energía en vez de comida. Pero esto se da gracias a las regulaciones masivas en forma de subsidios que el gobierno de USA esta dando a sus productores para que produzcan más. Sin estas, el maíz para etanol, simplemente, no seria rentable. Fuera de eso, la regulación gubernamental a través de tributos a exportaciones no ha hecho mas que agravar el problema, al disminuir la cantidad de comida disponible globalmente y generar desincentivos de producción. El aprendizaje de esta crisis ha de ser que la sobre-regulación gubernamental del sector agrícola en países desarrollados y en vía de desarrollo nos aleja cada día mas del precio real de la comida, haciendo el sector menos eficiente e incapaz de seguir alimentado a un mundo que cada día quiere comer mejor.

Biotechnology News

EU Delays Decision on Whether to Let Europe's Farmers Plant 'Frankenfood' Crops
Source:Reuters
Author:James Kanter

Food Crisis: Political Will Needed for Scientific Solutions to Reach African Farmers
Source:African Science News Service
Author:Henry Neondo

Click on "Read More" to see a completed post

Sustainable Agriculture, Stewardship and Genetically Engineered Animals
Source:Genetic Engineering News
Author:n/a

Bt corn in Spain—the performance of the EU's first GM crop
Source:Nature Biotechnology
Author:Manuel Gómez-Barbero, Julio Berbel & Emilio Rodríguez-Cerez

National Seminar on Bioethics in Indonesia
Source:Crop Biotech Update
Author:n/a

Regulating Transcription Regulators for Second Generation Biotech Crops
Source:Crop Biotech Update
Author:n/a

Scientists to Capture DNA of Trees Worldwide for Database
Source:Associated Press
Author:Deepti Hajela

Event Notification: International Conference on Grain Legumes
Source:Crop Biotech Update
Author:n/a

Shortages Threaten Farmers' Key Tool: Fertilizer
Source:The New York Times
Author:Keith Bradsher and Andrew Matrin

Oilseed Rape Resistant to Sclerotinia
Source:Crop Biotech Update
Author:n/a

IFPRI Hosts COP-MOP 4 Events
Source:Crop Biotech Update
Author:n/a