Indians bristle at American criticism Deccan Herald, June 2, 2008
The recent statement by US President that the rise in food price
globally due to economic prosperity of Indians was sharply
denounced by academicians and experts.
Editorial: Food fight www.Canadianbusiness.com, May 29,
2008 To imply that tubby
Americans or ravenous Indians chowing their way up the food chain
are somehow responsible for inflation on the scale we now see is
absurd. However, the Bush vs Mehta fight illustrates a larger
point.
He started it! Did not! www.agweb.com, May 16, 2008
Mehta threw the proverbial sand in the eyes of Americans,
including the President, who keep trying to explain the reason
commodity prices are increasing is due to improved diets and more
demand for food around the world.
Oil Shock: Trying to make the complex simple www.pennlive.com, May 16, 2008
A seemingly innocent comment by President Bush's in Missouri
about India's growing middle class and worldwide rising food
prices: "When you start getting wealth, you start demanding better
nutrition and better food, and so demand is high, and that cause
prices to go up”.
Beta Beats Alpha The Daily Reckoning, May 16, 2008 The reason food prices were going up, Bush guessed, was because
people in India had more money in their pockets and now they
wanted to eat more. Then, striking low, they said Americans ate
too much; if they just slimmed down to the weight of middle-class
Indians, said Pradeep S. Mehta, “many hungry people in sub-Saharan
Africa would find food on their plates”.
Indians bristle at U.S. criticism on food prices Tehran Times, May 15 &
International Herald Tribune, May 13, 2008
Criticism of the US has ballooned in India, particularly after the
Bush administration seemed to blame India’s increasing middle
class and prosperity for rising food prices. Critics from India
seem to be asking one underlying question: “Why do Americans think
they deserve to eat more than Indians?”
The
Blame Game
The Grinder, May 15, 2008
Indian officials and newspaper op-eds condemned the President,
saying the United States is responsible “many times more” than
India for the world food crisis, pointing out that the average
American uses more resources than the average Indian.
India to US: stop blaming us for your rising food costs! www.walletpop.com, May 14, 2008
The idea of America's President Bush blaming increased consumption
in India for rising food prices is laughable. It is like Ralphie
May telling Amy Winehouse to get off the couch because she's
taking up too much room.
Indians Find US at Fault in Food Cost The New York Times, May 14, 2008
Instead of blaming India for the
rise in food prices, Americans should rethink their energy policy
– and go on a diet. That has been the response, of politicians,
economists and academics, who are angry at statement by US that
India’s rising prosperity is to blame for food inflation.
CII to set up task force The Hindu, May 05, 2008 “George Bush’s remarks on India
being the cause for high food prices reflects his utter lack of
intelligence, poor understanding on economics and sheer ignorance
of basis statistics on food consumption".
Bush Talking through his Hat Thesynergyonline, May 05, 2008
Bush is well known for talking
through his hat, and his remarks on India being the cause for high
food prices reflects his utter lack of intelligence, poor
understanding of economics, and sheer ignorance of basic
statistics on food consumption.
ARTICLE
Food crisis: The blame game
Business Line, May 21, 2008
The world food crisis, despite all efforts to shift the blame, has
been born out of life-style imbalances in the US and like-minded
nations, characterised by an excess of nutrition and locomotion.
VIEWS & RESPONSES
Yet another leader fails to understand African politics What Pradeep S Mehta fails to
understand is that the hungry people in sub-Saharan Africa are
provided food from around the world in incredible amounts. The
issues in Africa involve more than just food, they require the
people to take their destinies in their own hands
India is developing, but at what cost? In reality, India is akin to a
poor, under-educated suburb of any major American city where many
of the wealth-earners are doing so only because American companies
are allowed to illegally profit from the illegal exportation of
American jobs.
Indians Say Americans Eat Too Much Indians point out that per
capita, India uses far lower quantities of commodities and
pollutes far less than the US. According to an UN study based on
2001-2003 research, the US uses or wastes 3,770 calories a day per
capita compared with 2,440 in India.
Bush's food-price
remarks infuriate Indian pundits While explaining the food price
increases, Indian politicians and academics cite consumption in
the United States; the West's diversion of arable land into the
production of ethanol and other biofuels; agricultural subsidies
and trade barriers from Washington and the European Union; and the
decline in the exchange rate of the dollar.
Indians Bristle At US Criticism on Food Prices Many Indians felt that the
remarks of President George W. Bush about rising food prices were
more of the same, though this time they seemed to breed a
widespread sense of “We’re not going to take this anymore”.
Food Price Kerfluffle:"Why Do Americans Get to Eat More than
Indians?" The food problem has “clearly”
been created by Americans, who are eating 50 percent more calories
than the average person in India. The money Americans spend on
liposuction to get rid of their excess fat could be funneled to
famine victims instead.
Food Fight–Part Deux–USA vs India When explaining the global food
crisis of soaring prices and shortages, many in the West point to
growing consumption in India. But consumption in the US and Europe
is far higher – with the exception of rice, a staple in India.
Indians Find U.S. at Fault in Food Cost Instead of blaming India and
other developing nations for the rise in food prices, Americans
should rethink their energy policy — and go on a diet.
Fat Americans to blame for the food crisis If Americans slimmed down to the
weight of middle-class Indians, “many hungry people in sub-Saharan
Africa would find food on their plates”. The money spent in the US
on liposuction to get rid of fat from excess consumption could be
funnelled to feed famine victims.
India to US: stop blaming us for your rising food costs! Americans – the majority of whom
are overweight – are crying their 42-inch waists off over the
soaring price of food. Some U.S. officials have suggested that
India's rising prosperity and the resulting increase in demand for
food are to blame.
Why do Americans think they deserve to eat more than Indians? Critics from India seem to be
asking one underlying question: “Why do Americans think they
deserve to eat more than Indians?” The food problem has “clearly”
been created by Americans, who are eating 50 percent more calories
than the average person in India.
Food Prices Require a Look in the Mirror Pradeep S Mehta said that if
Americans slimmed down to the weight of middle-class Indians,
“many hungry people in sub-Saharan Africa would find food on their
plates”. His comments reflect genuine outrage – and ballooning
criticism – toward the US in particular, over recent remarks by
President Bush.
Why Do Americans Get To Eat More... A diff take Bush’s assessment for why food
prices are higher is econ centered and consequentialist – more
demand, relatively static short run supply = higher prices as an
emergent property of a world where millions are making independent
decisions.
Beta Beats Alpha America’s president seems to
have an insight. The reason food prices were going up, he guessed,
was because people in India had more money in their pockets and
now they wanted to eat more. This remark might have gone
unnoticed, but for the fact that it was true. The foreigners are
getting richer...and uppity.
The Blame Game of Rising Food Prices Americans are also the largest
per capita consumers in any major economy of the most
energy-intensive common food source, beef. So who’s more to blame
for rising prices, the US or India?
For Four Generations, America Has Been the World’s Alpha Nation For four generations, America
has been the world's alpha nation – the country with the money,
the power, and the answers. Generations of Americans have offered
advice to the rest of the planet, confident that they knew best
what was good for everyone.
