Are Wall Street Speculators Inflating The Cost of Food?
Food prices have increased 4.4% in the last year – nearly twice as much as all other consumer goods. And a new study out of the New England Complex Systems Institute argues that Wall Street speculators are the ones driving up the price this year – just like they did in 2008 – when a billion people around the planet were pushed to the brink of starvation, and unrest and food riots swept the globe.
The new study forecasts another food bubble to be inflated by 2013 – that could once again create turmoil around the world. From the ongoing debt crisis in Europe – to rising gas prices in the United States – to increasing food costs around the world – Wall Street is destabilizing the entire global economy – and making huge profits by doing it. Just like they did when they crashed the world in 2008.
Comments
That's the "free market" for ya.
When does the swaps market bubble explode? Now $700 trillion and counting, it has nothing to prop it up -- the purest form of speculation perhaps possible.
In some ways our country has sucked the world economy nearly dry and at least a third of all money is now in tax havens. Thom is right on, as usual. But this is a chilling observation when we realize that this entity that Julian Assange recently called a "trans-national military-industrial complex" has such widespread and disastrous affects, literally pulling nations into it like an economic black hole.
Whether its only the speculations, or more back end price manipulation, or the high gas prices being pushed onto the consumer for buying the foods they need, bottom line is it is hard to make ends meet and it is only going to get harder unless by some miracle "greed" is erased from the minds of the ceo's in charge.
When are we going to criminalize greed???
Quotes from an article by Christopher Cooper at CommonDreams.org:
"President Barack Obama summed it up as succinctly and as eloquently as only a man of his unflappably cool reserve could, I suppose: “This incident is tragic and shocking, and does not represent the exceptional character of our military and the respect that the United States has for the people of Afghanistan.” Well there. And yer goddamn right, Mr. President. Our boys kick butt! We take it to ‘em! We light up the friggin sky! They don’t mess with the U.S.A. and get away with it. You don’t kill three thousand brave American heroes on September the eleventh, ten years ago, and expect your four year old girl to sleep in her own bed unmolested. Unkilled. Unburned. We do what needs to be done to keep America free, and sometimes along the way an enlisted man goes a little nuts. Just one. Just every little once in a while."
"And I’ll bet Afghanistan doesn’t even tax dead baby compensation income. Do we pro-rate babies and old people?"
"you could bomb my house and blow up my car and take away a leg and an arm and I might take your compensation check and relocate and regroup and nurse my grievances in the barroom. But if you or you or you or anybody came in here and killed him, I don’t care if you’re Christian or Jew or Mohammedan or a pagan suckled in some creed outworn, if you hurt him accidentally or on purpose, under orders or because you snapped under the pressure of your third deployment. I’d just want to kill you. And I don’t doubt I might kill you slowly and abuse your damned corpse in some ugly way. You and the guy behind you and the army that comes after that. I’d open you up and I’d nail you to the porch floor.
Oh, I’d be a bad person for doing so. Why, you might even say I’d become a terrorist, I suppose."
"Someday somebody related to some of these sufferers, these victims, these collaterally damaged souls, may try to kill you. And I have to tell you, I think you’ll have it coming."
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/03/12-1
Yes, YOU! because you supported a regime that commits these atrocities...these war crimes! And despite Obama's apologies, he is still the top war criminal since Bush left town. He has continued a policy of an illegal war that Bush started, continued committing war crimes, killing civilians, killing people's children...then offering stupid blood money (as little as it is...$1500 per person?) as compensation. We live in a country ruled by very sick and psychotic people....true psychopaths! Too many Big Macs and Fries...most likely.
Revealed: US spy operation that manipulates social media
Military's 'sock puppet' software creates fake online identities to spread pro-American propaganda
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/mar/17/us-spy-operation-social...
And, of course, if you use any of the social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, etc. everything you put out there on-line is collected in huge data bases owned by the CIA and other 3 letter agencies. Yes, even this blog...or any blog...gathers information about you. But, of course most people on blogs tend not to be so forthcoming in their true identities or any other detailed particulars about themselves as compared to what they do on the social network sites. It is no secret that the CIA has even funded Facebook...and I understand that even Mark Z. has even been given an award by the CIA for his efforts on behalf of the CIA in collecting data about all their users. Of course, it would probably not be that much trouble for some to gain a lot more information about you by just what you have typed in blogs. And they can most certainly find out where you live and a lot more information you wouldn't want them to know about. We are all vulnerable...especially the ones who actively participate in social networking.
Not really a problem. If we would only trust the republicans by putting them in office next year we will be able to put out large barrels of water, pray over them, then find them changed into gasoline. (Recommended donation $2.00/gal)
Same with food: empty basket + prayer^3 = food for all
This proposal will probably be dismissed as 'socialist.' However, For the sake of national security foodstuffs and oil must be removed from commodities exchange trading. They must not be open to commodities speculation.
~;^}>
If you want the way it used to be- tax a millionaire, support a union and buy American.
One of the HUGE factors in the rise of food prices is ethanol. No way can ethanol comete with gasoline, so the goverment has to subsidize the entire industry. And the corn that used to go into feed now goes into your gas tank. And the price of food goes up.
Yet another example of the goverment messing with the free market and look at the problems it casues.
I never saw food riots here in the United States or even really heard about them back in 2008. I am seeing a lot of it on television now though. I think that those who are wanting to "punish" people for being rich have absolutely no desire to every have any money themselves because they too would have to be punished.
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There are all kinds of people making stuff up about this casino-en-ligne and the sad part is that people will believe what they are saying just because it's controversial.
Will, you don't expect to spend any of your money as you would like to do you? Don't you know that the goverment knows how to spend your money better than you do? As soon as people like you realize that you have no right to any of the money you earn, and willing turn it all over to the goverment, then all the problems in the country will be solved. Until then, it is greedy people such as yourself that are holding us back!
I had no income for 10 mos. after the great depression hit, I burned through $14K in savings and plunged $2.8K in debt before I was finally deemed eligible for welfare (that's after 16 applications and petitionig 2 MLAs). I have been on welfare for three years now and gave up looking for work two yrs. ago. I am now going to college. I am living on 1/4 of what I used to earn and all of it from the state. How can there be such killer inflation when everyone's wages are so bloody damned diminished. It's getting to the point where we can't afford to live and don't deserve to live anymore. Now welfare is trying to cut me off. Does the state want me working at one of these min. wage, min. hrs., min. days, min. benefits jobs-say 2 hrs a week and looking vainly for work full time? As opposed to being a full time student for the next decade until this Great Depression is over?
Quote stecoop01:When are we going to criminalize greed???As I just learned : good question.
To all who don't see it : It is criminal to fraud or rob other people. Generally you can live your greed, as long as you don't infringe other people's rights. If you do things that make other people starve, be hemorrhaged or poisoned ect./ect., you're a criminal.
Whoever doesn't get that, is probably a criminal mind : Somebody who doesn't understand that other people have a right to live as well.
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Yes, speculation on food prices and the commodities market that rewards lage companies for pushing the market around for no reason other than gain must be stopped!!!!!! You can drive less but most people can't eat less and the big companies know it. Use of food crops for fuel is also driving up prices!