Subject: Unintended - but predictable - effects

Posted by Michael Round on 1/16/2009

Message:

The focus of SD seems to be in K-12, with many posts seeking to integrate SD concepts in their classes. What we see in reality, however, is a failure by adults to recognize simple cause-and-effect relationships.

The ramifications of policy-makers in particular is huge. the DJIA. The housing market. Foreign Policy. Unintended consequences? Always. Predictable, at the same time? Most of the time.

Another example is below.

The anti-conceptual educational system manifests itself in adults failing to think logically.

What (if anything) can be done to (re) educate this class of citizens in proper thinking?

Mike Round
Center for autoSocratic Excellence
www.rationalsys.com




Stimulus may bolster dairy industry
FALLING MILK PRICES: Initial effort to pay farmers to retire cows fizzles
By MARC HELLER
TIMES WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT
THURSDAY, JANUARY 15, 2009
WASHINGTON — A stimulus package may be a lifeline for the nation's economy, but it could be a death sentence for a lot of cows.
Lawmakers are looking for ways to use the forthcoming stimulus bill to help dairy farmers, and the number one priority is to dampen milk supplies and pro p up prices. Translation: reduce the nation's dairy herd.

Exactly how Congress will accomplish that remains uncertain. An initial effort to use stimulus money to pay farmers to retire cows failed when House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rep. David R. Obey, D-Wis., objected on the grounds that it violated a promise not to include earmarks in the bill, said Rep. Collin C. Peterson, D-Minn., chairman of the House Agriculture Committee.

Taking milk cows out of production as a way to control milk prices is a controversial approach. The federal government tried that in the 1980s through the whole herd buyout program, and while the policy worked for a time, milk production eventually bounced back and farmers were once again grappling with low milk prices.
The buyout also sent beef prices crashing, as slaughtered cows entered the meat supply.

Economists say the problem for the dairy industry is that when milk supplies fall, and prices climb, farmers generally push their cows to produce more to cash in. Then milk prices tumble again.

Follow Ups:

Unintended - but predictable - effects - Richard Turnock 1/17/2009 
Unintended - but predictable - effects - Bill Braun 1/17/2009
Unintended - but predictable - effects - Richard Turnock 1/17/2009
Unintended - but predictable - effects - Bill Braun 1/17/2009
Unintended - but predictable - effects - Armando Córdova Olivieri 1/19/2009
Unintended - but predictable - effects - Steve Bosacker 2/2/2009
Unintended - but predictable - effects - Michael Round 1/17/2009
Unintended - but predictable - effects - Leonard A Malczynski 1/16/2009 
Unintended - but predictable - effects - Bill Rathborne 1/16/2009 
Unintended - but predictable - effects - Philip Abode 1/16/2009
Unintended - but predictable - effects - Eric Stiens 1/17/2009