‘You can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs’ is a maxim attributed to leaders on both sides of the French Revolution. ‘Move fast and break things’ is today’s equivalent, emanating from Silicon Valley and amply demonstrated by Donald Trump and Elon Musk in their approach to government and geopolitics. ‘You can’t make omelettes at all if you can’t afford eggs’ might be the next variant: inflation and scarcity afflicting America’s favourite breakfast have become a major political issue.
In brief, a dozen US eggs used to cost $2 or less but by January this year the supermarket price was $5 and rising – in some places $9 was reported, rationing had to be introduced and Mexican suppliers were spotted smuggling truckloads across the border. The primary cause is an avian flu epidemic leading to the mass culling of flocks. Trump blamed Joe Biden for mishandling the crisis (though culling is a standard response) and claimed he would fix the problem on ‘day one’ of his new presidency. Having failed to do so he tried to downplay it by re-posting a Truth Social article headed ‘Shut up about egg prices’ before returning to the subject (‘We’re working hard to get it down’) in his recent speech to Congress.
In his haste to heap chicken shit (as it were) on Biden and federal bureaucrats, Trump seems to have overlooked another factor: corporate profiteering. Eggs still cost only 70-90 cents a dozen to produce; America’s largest supplier, Cal-Maine Foods of Jackson, Mississippi, tripled its profits between 2021 and 2024. And prices have stayed high partly because the US egg industry has not rebuilt capacity after the culls as fast as might have been expected – because two other companies have strangled the supply of egg-laying hens.
Magazine articles are subscriber-only. Get your first 3 months for just $5.
SUBSCRIBE TODAY- Free delivery of the magazine
- Unlimited website and app access
- Subscriber-only newsletters
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in