Mark Matthews is a Merrill Lynch strategist based in Hong Kong. Here is his analysis of the widespread reports about food riots in Asia. The following is excerpted from “Guanxi” (23 May 2008). Food scares are exaggerated, but good copy for media We noted on our European trip a high degree of concern over rising food prices …
“Food scares are exaggerated, but good copy for the media” Read More »
Much nonsense has been written about the food crisis, much of it by people using it to build support for their personal causes. It is a multi-faceted problem. Some aspects have been discussed on this blog, such as decades of underinvestment, rising demand, and inflation. Another key factor is government policy, the subject of this post. …
Teach a man to fish, and you understand what we have done wrong in Haiti Read More »
Here is a modest proposal for a small step to help better utilize the world’s food supply: feed the pets more scraps and less pet food — then donate some of that money to the World Food Program. I. “UN to set up task force to tackle global food crisis“, AP (29 April 2008) – …
A modest proposal for solving the global food crisis Read More »
Summary: Many factors are driving up food prices, but the elephant in the room is global inflation. This explains why prices are rising throughout the entire commodity complex (energy, industrial materials, precious metals, agriculture). Plus brief discussions of biofuels, long cycles of food prices, the role of government policy, and the likelihood of resource wars. “Global Market Brief: Food …
Higher food prices, riots, shortages – what is going on? Read More »
With the support of modern media and the Internet, we are well-informed about the state of the world. But perhaps not so well-informed as we believe. In The Myth of Grand Strategy I state It is hubris to believe that any person or small group has sufficient information to develop a plan on a global …
What you probably do not know about China’s food crisis Read More »
