It turns out, the Pope has been reading John Steinbeck.
How can we say for certain? Just listen to His Holiness' latest speech.
Pure Steinbeck. It's East of Eden, paraphrased.
The Pope has come out against commodities speculation. Yes, just like Adam Trask, who came down hard on his son Cal (as played by James Dean in the movie) for making money off the backs of hard-working farmers by betting on the market.
Food prices are high, in part because so much corn is going to produce ethanol and that takes land out of production for other crops. Weather comes into effect as well, and this year's wet spring has speculators guessing that the corn yield will be lower, which means higher prices.
The cost of tortillas in Mexico has gone up to the point where it's not the cheap staple it used to be. The poor can't afford to buy as much, so they end up going hungry.
Consider the human element, says the Pope. Don't speculate on the market and drive up prices. Prices will drive themselves up as an effect of high demand meeting low supply. We don't need people screaming their lungs out on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
How the farmers will get their crops to market in this global economy would be a matter for someone else to figure out. But the Pope, like Adam Trask, is appalled that someone who doesn't do the work can step in and make a profit on what is essentially gambling.
Catholic traders will shake their heads at the Pope's lack of understanding about what drives food prices. Then they'll go right back to the grain pits, arms and fingers in a blur of movement as they indicate buy or sell, the number of futures contracts that will lead to the grain in the field getting to a place where it can be processed for consumption.
The system is far from perfect, but it works. It's better than driving to the farm and buying direct from the farmer.
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