Posted on 01/16/2007 8:21:05 PM PST by ProtectOurFreedom
Soaring international demand for corn has caused a spike in prices for Mexico's humble tortilla, hitting the poor and forcing President Felipe Calderón's business-friendly government into an uncomfortable confrontation with powerful monopolies.
Tortilla prices jumped nearly 14 percent over the past year, a move Mexico's Central Bank Gov. Guillermo Ortiz called "unjustifiable" in a country where inflation ran about 4 percent. Ortiz pinned the blame on companies monopolizing the market and blocking competition.
Economists also blame increased U.S. production of ethanol from corn as an alternative to oil. The battle over the tortilla, the most basic staple of the Mexican diet especially among the poor, demonstrates how increasing economic integration is felt on the street level.
"This is direct evidence of the way globalization is affecting all walks of life in Mexico and all over the world,'' said David Barkin, an economics professor at the Xochimilco campus of the Autonomous Metropolitan University in Mexico City.
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
Even an TV series can have a kernel of truth to them.
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