Two points come to mind. First, if we allow free and open "market forces" then do wages drop as unemployment rises? The competition for jobs would suggest that it would. Do we allow and encourage that to happen?
I don't see how you can avoid it by other than artificial or inflated means over the long term. If your drive is to force them into unprofitability, why would employers continue to employ at all?
Secondly, the requirement to add ethanol (from food) was mandated by the Bush Administration and heavily subsidized by tax payers. That's not fair open market forces. It's politically driven and not fair.
I'm certainly no proponent of ethanol fuel. And every administration has it's, er, tarnished programs. But, I don't think it quite "fair" to lay the total blame onto the Bush administration (2001-2009), particularly when it requires cooperation from house and senate politicos to force law and policy.
Compare the timelines:
Carter administration 77-81
Regan administration 81-89
G H W Bush administration 89-93
Clinton administration 93-2001
G W Bush administration 2001-2009
Obama administration 2009 - incumbent
"Corn ethanol history in the U.S. is the history of subsidies, since the sector didn't really take off until the government decided to subsidize it. The Energy Tax Act of
1978 created ethanol tax credits in an effort to decrease the nation's vulnerability to oil shortages and handle how the price of corn had been depressed by agricultural subsidies. In
1980, the government – in an effort to secure that U.S. produced ethanol would be the only cost-effective source of ethanol fuel in the nation – placed a tariff of 50 cents per gallon on imported ethanol. (Today, this tariff still exists and consists of 2,5% + 54 cents.) That same year, it became possible for prospective ethanol producers to apply for government-guaranteed loans for up to 90 percent of construction costs. The government also decided to put significant sums into research and development to further the sector.15
Between
1979 and 1986, domestic production of ethanol rose dramatically in the U.S., from a mere 20 million U.S. liquid gallons (over 75 million liters) to 750 million gallons (around 2,84 billion liters). In
1990, small-scale producers received an additional tax credit of 10 cents per gallon. By 2004, the national ethanol production had grown even more and was now reaching 3,6 billion gallons.16
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 was another important step in corn ethanol history. It mandated an annual consumption of 7,5 billion gallons of ethanol by 2012. Two years later, the mandate was increased to 15 billion gallons of corn ethanol by 2015."
If it weren't one's goal simply to vilify Republicans, one might also consider the Dems that rooted the problem and/or did nothing to "correct" it during their terms of office. One might wonder if both parties were loathe to restrict positive cash flow into the federal and state budgets with fuel excise taxes.
The government "grew" the industry knowing there was a ready pool of energy-clamoring-consumers from which to mine future revenue.
And we keep returning them to public office as a reward.
It's not about fair, its about what is popular or rewarding. Humans, as a species have never been fair.
