Not Just Our Imaginations: UN Confirms World Food Prices Rising

The United Nations’ Food and Agricultural Organization announced that their Food Price Index is at its highest level ever: It was 230.7 points in January, rising 3.4% over December’s 223.1 level. (The Food Price Index is a diversified basket of food products and staples consumed throughout the world, weighted by population and preference.)

The New Gold?

The culprits mentioned in the report are the usual suspects: Fire in Russia, drought in Argentina, flooding in Australia.

What isn’t mentioned in the report is the race to the bottom being carried out by the Federal Reserve and the other central banks. In the previous hour’s posting, essentially the same point was made: Ben Bernanke’s policy of flooding the markets with dollars has exacerbated the problem of rising food prices (as the dollar is the reserve currency), and has forced the other central banks to essentially follow suit, which has put pressure on locally produced foodstuffs, and not just foodstuffs consumed by net food importing countries.

Rising food prices—rising political tensions, especially in restive countries.

It was blind luck that more confirmation of rising global food prices came out so helpfully: So all we have to say is, Thanks UN!!