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Cause and effect

Reader comment on item: Fixing Egypt's Economy: No More Military Macaroni
in response to reader comment: US politics helped induce Egyptian Upheaval

Submitted by Randall P. (United States), Aug 2, 2013 at 20:36

While most of your facts are correct, your conclusion stops too short and overlooks other causes and their effects. OPEC pricing policies and the wasteful use of oil income is one of the root causes of today's problems.

An example of wasteful expenses are the many billions of dollars each year that oil producers and other Arab countries give away. Fuel subsidies alone account for the bulk of energy subsidies consumption. In Egypt, the most populous Arab country, energy subsidies amount to about $25 billion a year, 30 percent of total government spending, and over 10 percent of GDP. The IMF estimates that in 2011, Arab governments spent about $240 billion in energy subsidies alone and tells those governments to reduce wasteful expenditures. Then add in the cost of food subsidies in Egypt alone.

Ethanol production will follow the price of oil upward. As oil gets priced higher by wasteful OPEC governments, ethanol production increases and drives food prices higher. There would be no ethanol production and much more food exported at low prices if OPEC lowers the price of oil by cutting back on their welfare policies. The problems started with higher oil prices, not by companies running ethanol plants.

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Reader comments (26) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
Virginity tests in colleges and Breast examinations for women that want to buy subsidized formula in Egypt [48 words]dhimmi no moreOct 2, 2016 11:37233114
Saudi Arabia plays curious role [101 words]Michael SSep 15, 2016 05:00232712
1The MB are terrorists and liars and criminals [201 words]dhimmi no moreAug 15, 2013 13:05208993
Wonder what Shater's son has [168 words]saraAug 15, 2013 21:44208993
Islamists and the truth [47 words]dhimmi no moreAug 16, 2013 07:48208993
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2What next? [416 words]dhimmi no moreAug 4, 2013 06:57208730
Well done! [20 words]Nazim CairoAug 14, 2013 17:20208730
2The last ones to preach are the Turks [158 words]dhimmi no moreAug 15, 2013 06:29208730
1Read it one more time [52 words]dhimmi no moreAug 15, 2013 06:39208730
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Again well done. [97 words]Nazim CairoAug 16, 2013 07:46208730
2He who lives by the sword dies by the sword and Erdogan is a loser [398 words]dhimmi no moreAug 17, 2013 20:16208730
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1'Auction of Souls' [24 words]AustralianAug 20, 2013 04:50208730
1The Armenian Genocide [110 words]dhimmi no moreAug 21, 2013 06:47208730
The Egyptian military and the taxes! [60 words]dhimmi no moreAug 2, 2013 14:28208707
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GOOD HABITS ARE HARD TO BREAK [129 words]JACQUES HADIDAJul 31, 2013 14:04208675
1The Sadness of Egypt [220 words]RobinozJul 31, 2013 04:54208669
Fixing Egypt's Economy: No More Military Macaroni [64 words]BALARABE ABBAJul 31, 2013 02:27208662
Wishful thinking [30 words]T ShazlyJul 31, 2013 00:18208659
Butter before F-16s [204 words]NickJul 30, 2013 23:31208657
1US politics helped induce Egyptian Upheaval [596 words]Dr. Matania GinosarJul 30, 2013 22:29208656
Cause and effect [201 words]Randall P.Aug 2, 2013 20:36208656

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