Revolutionary Moderation

Oh, no



BSE seems to have appeared in the American cattle supply. This is the worst possible news for Canadian cattle farmers, as well - on the heels of finally getting the US border opened to our beef again, I think we can expect them to close once more, defensively. Not to mention that international markets are likely to not differentiate between Canadian and US beef when it comes to electing to reopen their borders to North American beef.



I think we can also expect a reduction in beef consumption on behalf of American consumers. That will hurt us as well.



This was nearly inevitable, but it's really crappy news.



Update: Perhaps it's the Christmas spirit distracting everone, but I quickly poked around my regularly-read American blogs, and I can't find a single mention of BSE. Do they have any idea how far the ripples of this single case will spread? BSE has cost the Canadian economy nearly $2 billion dollars so far. Multiply that several times over, and you're dealing with a serious downturn in the American economy. Focus all that pain on half a dozen states and you have a political consequence to think about, too - if the American government handles this badly, doesn't cull enough farms, and a second case comes up, Bush will be fighting like crazy for electoral votes in what were safe (70%ish) Republican states yesterday. Okay, that's actually a good consequence, but lets hope the White House handles this well anyway, because too many livelihoods are on the line over the next three to six months.



American bloggers, I know you're busy with the wrapping and the nog and whatnot, but this is going to turn into a huge deal in the new year - you might want to bone up a bit.



Second update, Christmas Eve morning: Thanks to POGGe for the link, but my comments provider is not down with the HTML. Let me make it easier on my readers. POGGe writes: "Try Just a Bump in the Beltway. Melanie's on the job." And POGGe has more BSE links besides... off you go.