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University Daily Kansan, October 13, 1983
Theologian supports new industrial policy
By PAUL SEVART Staff Reporter
A sound national industrial policy is the best way to protect society from the hazards of rapid technological change, a Lutheran theologian said yesterday in a University Forum lecture.
Robert Benne, the theologian, said that technological advancement was changing society so fast that some regions or industries were being left behind. The University of Notre Dame for the Center for the Church of Society at Roanoke College in Salem, Va.
THOSE REGIONS AND industries that are falling behind need help, Benne said. The marketplace and government both must participate in protecting society from "the dark side of technology."
Technological advancement is a process of "creative destruction," Benne told about 30 people at Ecumenical Christian Ministries. Technology has a creative side, which raises the standard of living for all people by making more conveniences more affordable.
The destructive side of technology. Benne said, takes jobs from people in the field and creates economically depressed jobs such as the industrial Northeast.
He said, "You've got this dark underside of many people suffering the effects of technological change.
"The pessimists argue that the destructive side has overtaken the creative side and that the destructive forces should be brought under national political control. That puts the issue left side of the political spectrum."
ON THE OTHER side are the optimists, best exemplified by John Naissht in the book "Megatrends." They will see that societies will take care of society on its own.
Somewhere between those extremes is a neo-liberal approach that encourages an active governmental marketplace, but only when necessary.
"I would be skeptical of having one center of power that would ensure that good wins out," Benno said. "I think I'm pushed to a centrist position."
An effective industrial policy,
Borne said, would need several
general policies.
He said decisions on the uses of new technology would be made by the market, not the government. The market will be kept open to foreign competition.
ALSO, THE GOVERNMENT would provide incentives to protect the environment.
reductions. Such incentives would be more in line with the values of the marketplace than present environmental regulations, Benne said.
Benne said the best assistance would not necessarily be to sustain the troubled industry or region but might involve helping to relocate or retrain workers who have been replaced with technology.
Also, limits would be placed on the application of new technology on humans. Those limits might include guidelines on genetic research, which could harm society if it is not monitored, he said.
The need for long-term planning has been recognized for a long time, Benne said. The Midwestern Governors' Conference this week adopted a resolution calling for a national agricultural policy, he said, because of a need for long-range stability in agriculture.
Two more people are scheduled to speak about industrial policy at the University of Kansas Tomorrow, Treasury Secretary Donald Regan chairing a discussion and answer session, on that topic at 1 p.m. in Woodruff Auditorium
Wednesday, William J. Wilson,
Langston Hughes visiting professor,
will speak at a University Forum on
Law and Society and the Minority
Communities."
Drought reduces corn crop by half
By United Press International
WASHINGTON — The worst drought in a half century has slashed the corn crop to 4.26 billion bushels, 49 percent less than last year's record, but crop size has stabilized, falling just 3 percent from last month, the government said yesterday.
With the harvest ahead of average for this time of year, the devastated corn crop — the smallest since an epidemic of southern corn leaf blight cut the 1970 crop by half — has to have escaped further damage that could have been inflicted by early frost.
The latest Agriculture Department estimate of this fall's corn harvest was based on an Oct. 1 survey, when one-fourth of the crop was harvested. As of last week, the harvest was more than two-fifths complete, compared to an average of one-fourth for this time of year.
AS A RESULT of the drought, higher prices for corn, soybeans and other feed crops have forced sale of livestock, holding down meat prices this fall. But next year higher feed prices are expected to force livestock and poultry producers to cut back production, lower prices, government economists said.
METEOROLOGISTS DECLARED the drought the worst since the 1930s because of soil moisture levels and
Food price inflation will be less than 3 percent this year, the lowest level since 1967, but the drought may increase 1984 food-price inflation by 1 percentage or 1.5 percent. It is expected to boost food prices by 4 percent to 7 percent, economists said.
During the sizzling height of this summer's drought, the August corn crop estimate was 15 percent less than economists had expected. A field survey measured another 16 percent decline by early September, when the government estimated the corn harvest would total 4.39 billion bushels. The latest forecast is only 3 percent below the September projection.
estimated that it caused a $10 billion crop loss.
The drought came on top of the largest acreage cutback in history, reducing acreage to the lowest level in this century. The acreage cutback produced one-fourth below the 1882 record of 8.4 billion bushels.
The department's Crop Reporting Board revised its estimate of the nationwide average number of bushels of corn harvested per acre to 82.9 bushels, compared to 85.1 bushels predicted last month.
The corn yield estimate was the lowest since 71.9 bushels per acre were harvested in 1974 and a sharp drop from 1982 record of 114.8 bushels per acre
THE DEPARTMENT ESTIMATED that the soybean crop — with harvest one-fifth complete at the time of the survey and now ahead of average with two-fifths completed — will be 1.52 billion bushels, down 32 percent from last year and down 1 percent from last month's forecast.
The 1983 national average soybean yield was estimated at 24.7 bushels per acre, compared to 24.9 bushels estimated a month ago. It would be the lowest yield since 23.7 bushels per acre were harvested in 1974.
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