BSE INACTION COST BILLIONS

Remember the commentators who whined, upon discovery of the first U.S. Mad Cow case, that it was us vegetarians who were hurting the (beef) economy by blowing the whole thing out of proportion and scaring away U.S. beef consumers? Well, as was obvious to thinking persons then and is now documented, it was in fact the beef industry's own blundering that caused the damage: "The most significant economic impact of BSE is from lost beef export markets," said Kansas Secretary of Agriculture Adrian Polansky. That's to the tune of $4.7 billion in 2004. And for anyone who needs it spelled out: "The study also concluded that voluntary testing for the disease would have provided an economic gain to the beef industry despite the added testing costs."