Tuesday 22 April 2008

The Other Crunch: Let Them Eat - ... ?


When it comes to global commodity crises, real or imagined, until quite recently talk has been of energy, water and high-value metals: and it has been easy to take ones eye off the meat-ball, so to say. Hands up – food prices didn’t get a mention in our predictions for 2008: but it’s food that is the first true global commodity flashpoint of the new century.

In retrospect, how obvious this is and how parochial have been the concerns over energy and metals - the rich man’s ‘necessities’. But meagre incomes are spent predominantly on food, with pitifully little room for manoeuvre. We can take a tenfold rise in oil prices (since 1998!) more or less in our stride, and even become blasé about commodity prices (we may even have invested in them …) They cannot easily take a doubling in the price of wheat and rice.

Of course commodity prices are interlinked, and this we did foresee: that the lunacy which is EC biofuels policy would soon unravel. Biofuels for power generation may be primarily woodchips and chickenshit (and diseased carcasses): but biofuels for transportation compete directly and brutally with food production and rainforests. As we noted here last month, the grand EU enviro-energy plan entails that more than half the renewables we are ‘legally bound’ to use will come from biofuels.

It’s an ill wind … and some very powerful (and greedy) lobbies are limbering up for a big, big payday. The French and US farmers, the GM crop manufacturers: all will strangely find high prices insufficient motivation, and will demand ever more protection, promotion and subsidy for their ‘help’ in solving the food crisis.

A rethink by the EC on biofuels would be a start – we’ll return to this in future - but there are only rumblings at present. Heaven help those on a dollar or two per day.

ND

14 comments:

Old BE said...

It was all so predictable and predicted. Only when the crisis gets into the news do our Dear Leaders start to ponder it. The solution is of course far too simple to be actually implemented.

Anonymous said...

Buy farmland!

Bill Quango MP said...

It’s an ill wind … said ND

Or even an ill Wind Farm.

Nick Drew said...

Don't get me started, BQ

Mark Wadsworth said...

It's so simple, really.

The Golden Rule is "Subsidies do not make things cheaper, they make them more expensive" (OK, in the instant case, subsidies/protection for bio-fuels make food more expensive, but it's all the same thing in the end).

Anonymous said...

There is a real human cost to this crisis and no-one in the EU seems to mind very much.

Anonymous said...

Even in this country poor peoples pend a much higher proportion of their income on foods and so the ongoing steep price inflation is hitting low paid people the most.

Anonymous said...

4pints of milk in ASDA now £1.34. Was only £1.04 before Christmas. At that rate it will be £3.00 by next Christmas. Annual compound growth rate would be close to 300%.

Petrol was £1.02 a litre at ASDA at the beginning of March. Was £1.065 today. That's almost a 5% increase in just 6 weeks. Annual compound growth rate of 48%.

Anonymous said...

They'd probably be pretty stringy too though Dearieme.

Although I guess you could get the POlice to tenderise them for you first...

Schadenfreude said...

You've got to hand it to the Americans. Solve your trade deficit and budget problems in one go by fermenting wheat to make ethanol. Reduce your fuel imports and at the same time watch the price of wheat go through the roof while the nations of the world dependent on US grain get desparate for food. Classic food market manipulation. Used to happen here in the UK lots before the CAP was introduced. Too much wheat on the market? Prices too low due to excess competition? Why not just burn it!

Nick Drew said...

the shades of Swift are afoot: hard to distinguish satirical proposals from real ones

we have fallen down the rabbit-hole and like Alice are destined for a crazy ride

hopefully, Mutley, Brown cops the blame for this. He probably will, the Brits are like that, I recall my father blamed *bloody Harold Wilson* for the weather and everything else

Bill Quango MP said...

funny you say that Nd. Mrs BQ only yesterday reminded me that when Gordon came into power it was pissing down.."and we haven't had a really nice day since"

Anonymous said...

aaaa片, 免費聊天, 咆哮小老鼠影片分享區, 金瓶梅影片, av女優王國, 78論壇, 女同聊天室, 熟女貼圖, 1069壞朋友論壇gay, 淫蕩少女總部, 日本情色派, 平水相逢, 黑澀會美眉無名, 網路小說免費看, 999東洋成人, 免費視訊聊天, 情色電影分享區, 9k躺伯虎聊天室, 傑克論壇, 日本女星杉本彩寫真, 自拍電影免費下載, a片論壇, 情色短片試看, 素人自拍寫真, 免費成人影音, 彩虹自拍, 小魔女貼影片, 自拍裸體寫真, 禿頭俱樂部, 環球av影音城, 學生色情聊天室, 視訊美女, 辣妹情色圖, 性感卡通美女圖片, 影音, 情色照片 做愛, hilive tv , 忘年之交聊天室, 制服美女, 性感辣妹, ut 女同聊天室, 淫蕩自拍, 處女貼圖貼片區, 聊天ukiss tw, 亞亞成人館, 777成人, 秋瓷炫裸體寫真, 淫蕩天使貼圖, 十八禁成人影音, 禁地論壇, 洪爺淫蕩自拍, 秘書自拍圖片,

做愛的漫畫圖片, 情色電影分享區, 做愛ㄉ影片, 丁字褲美女寫真, 色美眉, 自拍俱樂部首頁, 日本偷自拍圖片, 色情做愛影片, 情色貼圖區, 八國聯軍情色網, 免費線上a片, 淫蕩女孩自拍, 美國a片, 都都成人站, 色情自拍, 本土自拍照片, 熊貓貼圖區, 色情影片, 5278影片網, 脫星寫真圖片, 粉喵聊天室, 金瓶梅18, sex888影片分享區, 1007視訊, 雙贏論壇, 爆爆爽a片免費看, 天堂私服論壇, 情色電影下載, 成人短片, 麗的線上情色小遊戲, 情色動畫免費下載, 日本女優, 小說論壇, 777成人區, showlive影音聊天網, 聊天室尋夢園, 義大利女星寫真集, 韓國a片, 熟女人妻援交, 0204成人, 性感內衣模特兒, 影片, 情色卡通, 85cc免費影城85cc, 本土自拍照片, 成人漫畫區, 18禁, 情人節阿性,

Anonymous said...

情色電影, aio交友愛情館, 言情小說, 愛情小說, 色情A片, 情色論壇, 色情影片, 視訊聊天室, 免費視訊聊天, 免費視訊, 視訊美女, 視訊交友, ut聊天室, 視訊聊天, 免費視訊聊天室, a片下載, av片, A漫, av dvd, av成人網, 聊天室, 成人論壇, 本土自拍, 自拍, A片, 愛情公寓, 情色, 舊情人, 情色貼圖, 情色文學, 情色交友, 色情聊天室, 色情小說, 一葉情貼圖片區, 情色小說, 色情, 色情遊戲, 情色視訊, 情色電影, aio交友愛情館, 色情a片, 一夜情, 辣妹視訊, 視訊聊天室, 免費視訊聊天, 免費視訊, 視訊, 視訊美女, 美女視訊, 視訊交友, 視訊聊天, 免費視訊聊天室, 情人視訊網, 影音視訊聊天室, 視訊交友90739, 成人影片, 成人交友,

免費A片, 本土自拍, AV女優, 美女視訊, 情色交友, 免費AV, 色情網站, 辣妹視訊, 美女交友, 色情影片, 成人影片, 成人網站, A片,H漫, 18成人, 成人圖片, 成人漫畫, 情色網, 日本A片, 免費A片下載, 性愛, 成人交友, 嘟嘟成人網, 成人電影, 成人, 成人貼圖, 成人小說, 成人文章, 成人圖片區, 免費成人影片, 成人遊戲, 微風成人, 愛情公寓, 情色, 情色貼圖, 情色文學, 做愛, 色情聊天室, 色情小說, 一葉情貼圖片區, 情色小說, 色情, 寄情築園小遊戲, 色情遊戲, 情色視訊,