CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News
1. BUSINESS
Stocks take a beating over fears of a possible recession.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Center for Entrepreneurship Director John Berlau on how more government intervention is making things worse:
“[Last week President] Bush formally announced a temporary ‘stimulus’ –again backing away from making permanent his 2001 and 2003 cuts in income, capital gains, and dividend tax rates — and the stock markets tumbled further. It is far from clear we are facing a recession, but we are facing an uncertainty about the economy that is making the market nervous. And part of what is making the market nervous is, ironically, politicians’ urge to do ‘something,’ anything, to save it.”
2. INTERNATIONAL
Thousands across Asia protest against a steep increase in soybean prices.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Adjunct Scholar Fran Smith on what’s making soybeans so expensive:
“Soybeans are used in all types of Asian food in the form of soybean paste, fermented soybean cake, and tofu. It’s a major source of protein for people in many Asian countries and may be about the only protein source for many poor people in Indonesia. What’s causing the huge price increases? Well, one reason cited is some major soybean producers’ shift to produce corn and other biofuel crops instead.”
3. HEALTH
The Food and Drug Administration fields an array of responses after issuing a report on the safety of milk and meat from cloned livestock. C
EI Expert Available to Comment: Director of Food Safety Policy Gregory Conko on who’s opposing the use of cloning:
“It’s not often that American food companies join hands with environmental and consumer activists to call for greater government control over the nation’s food supply. But that’s just what happened last week after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration concluded that meat and milk from cloned cows, pigs, and goats are safe for consumers. Despite the overwhelming science behind that finding, industry and activists have called for a ban on cloned food products. Naturally, you might think that lockstep agreement from such unlikely bedfellows is a little fishy. And you’d be right. The losers would be American consumers, farmers, and the environment.”
Blog feature: For more news and analysis, updated throughout the day, visit CEI’s blog, Open Market.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
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