You've heard "what's that got to do with the price of tea in China?" to mean that something is of no importance to you. Well, that's changing, and it's been changing for quite a while.
Is started with the rise of China's and India's economies that increased demand for oil. The result, you're now paying $3.50/gallon for gas.
Now it foodstuffs. You see, as the economies are rising, the emerging middle class in China, which is larger than the entire U.S. population, no longer just eats rice, they eat western foods such as breads. So that puts the pressure on wheat prices (along with things like ethanol, uh, hello? Corn & wheat? How 'bout switchgrass, or natural gas, or...) and now you have inflation in your food in America.
And that's how the price of tea (or rice, or wheat, or oil) in China affects you!
From today's news:
http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/104914/Load-Up-the-Pantry;_ylt=AgSQSMX3Odec6lHVMtoNgyFO7sMF
I don't want to alarm anybody, but maybe it's time for Americans to start stockpiling food.
No, this is not a drill.
You've seen the TV footage of food riots in parts of the developing world. Yes, they're a long way away from the U.S. But most foodstuffs operate in a global market. When the cost of wheat soars in Asia, it will do the same here.
Reality: Food prices are already rising here much faster than the returns you are likely to get from keeping your money in a bank or money-market fund. And there are very good reasons to believe prices on the shelves are about to start rising a lot faster.
"Load up the pantry," says Manu Daftary, one of Wall Street's top investors and the manager of the Quaker Strategic Growth mutual fund. "I think prices are going higher. People are too complacent. They think it isn't going to happen here. But I don't know how the food companies can absorb higher costs."
The main reason for rising prices, of course, is the surge in demand from China and India. Hundreds of millions of people are joining the middle class each year, and that means they want to eat more and better food.
A secondary reason has been the growing demand for ethanol as a fuel additive. That's soaking up some of the corn supply.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Tyler had to do a paper for his class on economics and he talked about many of these same things in it. I was proofreading it and it kind of gives one something to think/worry about! Those prophets who have been telling us to get our food storage going weren't joking...
The price for rice has tripled in the past month and Sam's will only sell a certain amount at a time to a person. Kind of weird...
A lot of people are growing gardens this year, but the storms in Texas have been ruining them. As a child I used to think it would be cool to live in the last days. As an adult, I've changed my mind;-) hehe...
The gas prices are hurting. So much someone stole gas from one of our cars in my own driveway. It is frustrating.
Post a Comment