A: Because it is made with real cane sugar. (cheer!)
We use corn syrup. (boo!)
(doesn't that just sound so...American?
I think they are going to make rockets out of corn pretty soon...)
Well that begs the question:
Why don't we make Coke with real cane sugar, too?
Are Americans just slow on the draw?
Three words:
No Free Trade.
You see, we don't have the resources to grow sugar cane here. (Except for a few farms in Louisiana...) So we have to trade for it. BUT our brilliant government puts down restrictions*. Like tariffs. (Boo!)
We could get sugar for 14 cents a pound, but the tariff increases it to 24 cents a pound. That is too expensive for our Coca Cola Corporation. See why we revert to good ol' corn syrup? We are suffering here!
Get this: Those Louisiana sugar cane farmers? Think they live the life of a modest farmer? Think again. Try a yearly income of $1 MILLION. I am switching from engineering to farming.
So, uh, what dwindling sugar cane farming industry are we trying to "preserve" here?
That's what I thought.
You should really be booing now.
[ Boo squared! ( = boo!^2 = BOOOO!) ]
Ok, so if we took the tariff off, the overwhelming supply of sugar probably would wipe out the Louisiana farmers. But that's ok. Our economy would actually be better off as a whole. And they wouldn't be out of a job, they would just relocate...to....ya know....corn farming....
I hear that the industry is absolutely booming.
(cheer!)
*Economists are still baffled as to why our government does this. It doesn't make economical sense.
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