Food costs jump most in 26 years

[flintlock]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Wholes....html?x=0&.v=4

Wholesale prices rose more than expected last month as food prices surged by the most in 26 years. But excluding food and energy, prices were nearly flat.

[Raz]

Re: Food costs jump most in 26 years

What's the big deal, Flint? If you don't eat or drive you have nothing to worry about!

[Ghent12]

Re: Food costs jump most in 26 years

I'm sure this has nothing at all to do with our nation's Earth Friendly Corn Ethanol project.

[BigBagel]

Re: Food costs jump most in 26 years

Beer has gotten very expensive. You have to take out a loan to buy a 12 pack of Sam Adams now. It'll be Old Milwaukee soon.

[LargoWinch]

Re: Food costs jump most in 26 years

What's the big deal, Flint? If you don't eat or drive you have nothing to worry about!

Yeah flintlock, I agree with Raz here; would you please stop wasting your money on food?

(buy a house in Canada instead)

[doom&gloom]

Re: Food costs jump most in 26 years

Beer has gotten very expensive. You have to take out a loan to buy a 12 pack of Sam Adams now. It'll be Old Milwaukee soon.

I tell everyone get ready for "deflation in the thigs you own, inflation in the things you need".
Houses, cars, boats etc deflate. Food, raw materials, similar inflate.

[thunderdownunder]

Re: Food costs jump most in 26 years

From Jesse - http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot...ice-index.html
The inflation genie is out of the bottle. Volker would be on this like a fly on poo. ZIRP Must now become HIRP or the inflation genie will grant you 3 wishes (none of them good).
Camtender post had this - "Rothbard provides his usual brilliant insight to explain what happens once the “Havenstein moment’ is reached. There are two alternatives.
“If the government tightens its own belt and stops printing (or otherwise creating) new money, then inflationary expectations will eventually be reversed, and prices will fall once more – thus relieving the money shortage by lowering prices. But if government follows its own inherent inclination to counterfeit and appeases the clamor by printing more money so as to allow the public’s cash balances to ‘catch up’ to prices, then the country is off to the races. Money and prices will follow each other upward in an ever-accelerating spiral, until finally prices ‘run away’…[i.e., hyperinflate]” - 2 of the genie's 3 wishes
The two post should be united as one !
I'm not earning any more $ because belt tightening won't allow it. Yet each month I watch my salary buy less and less of the essentials for living - Food, shelter and energy ( Ipads and 3D TV's and other discretionary items are just an advertisers dream unless you use money you don't have [and doesn't exist] until I 'charge it')

[Raz]

Re: Food costs jump most in 26 years

From Jesse - http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot...ice-index.html
The inflation genie is out of the bottle. Volker would be on this like a fly on poo. ZIRP Must now become HIRP or the inflation genie will grant you 3 wishes (none of them good).
Camtender post had this - "Rothbard provides his usual brilliant insight to explain what happens once the “Havenstein moment’ is reached. There are two alternatives.
“If the government tightens its own belt and stops printing (or otherwise creating) new money, then inflationary expectations will eventually be reversed, and prices will fall once more – thus relieving the money shortage by lowering prices. But if government follows its own inherent inclination to counterfeit and appeases the clamor by printing more money so as to allow the public’s cash balances to ‘catch up’ to prices, then the country is off to the races. Money and prices will follow each other upward in an ever-accelerating spiral, until finally prices ‘run away’…[i.e., hyperinflate]” - 2 of the genie's 3 wishes
The two post should be united as one !
I'm not earning any more $ because belt tightening won't allow it. Yet each month I watch my salary buy less and less of the essentials for living - Food, shelter and energy ( Ipads and 3D TV's and other discretionary items are just an advertisers dream unless you use money you don't have [and doesn't exist] until I 'charge it')

Bernanke is an academic stooge for the banksters. The banksters own the Fed and they want free money in order to earn a 4% to 6% spread so they can reload their Fractional Reserve Machine. So you can forget about RIRP (Real Interest Rate Policy).
If in the next two or three years, maybe five or more, we actually see a real rate of interest on 90 and 180 day Treasury Bills it will be a gift from Mr. Market; it sure won't be the work of the Fed.

Jefferson and Jackson's worst nightmare is being played out in real time right before our eyes.
The banks own the government of the United States.

[Rajiv]

Re: Food costs jump most in 26 years

From the article

Still, there was little sign of budding inflation in the report. Excluding volatile food and energy costs, wholesale prices rose by 0.1 percent, matching analysts' expectations.

Food prices jumped by 2.4 percent in March, the most since January 1984. Vegetable prices soared by more than 49 percent, the most in 15 years. A cold snap wiped out much of Florida's tomato and other vegetable crops at the beginning of this year.

Gasoline prices rose 2.1 percent, the department said, the fifth rise in six months.

It is pretty clear to me that both of these are not due to monetary inflation, but rather due to real shortages. Peak Oil is real, and any increase in worldwide economic activity will cause the Oil prices to rise dramatically, and shrinkage will cause oil to drop drastically (High volatility)

Similarly, as we are close to full utilization of arable land, shocks like the cold snap like earlier this year will cause sharp rises in the price of perishable goods (in this case, vegetables are a good example) There is little excess agricultural capacity in the system!

[reallife]

Re: Food costs jump most in 26 years

Beer has gotten very expensive. You have to take out a loan to buy a 12 pack of Sam Adams now. It'll be Old Milwaukee soon.

That's why I brew my own!

[BK]

Re: Food costs jump most in 26 years

The Obama Healthy Food Financing will take care of the Food Problem. Arable land, costly fertilizers, and expensive food aren't the problems (according to President Obama). We need to build more Super Markets in the Inner City. Poor diets of poor Americans aren't a result of high prices - its because there aren't SuperMarkets nearby (according to the Obama Administration). The Press and the public eats this story line up with great photos of the First Lady at new Super Markets. You get the impression that the average Americans think SuperMarkets generate food magically.

Food is just another example of Politicians creating problems and then offering solutions that have absolutely Nothing to do with the Problem.

Why aren't we encouraging Children to go into Agriculture. Instead, more and more Students will flock to studying gaming or hope to design the next Ipod device to become Steve Jobs.

To bad Politicians haven't found away to make Money for them selves supporting farmers - instead the Pols offer programs are good for Real Estate and Financing Industry - Healthy Food Financing - is a perfect example of another Politically motivated solution to the Food Problem that doesn't help fix the problem - but, makes money for Organizations that were good to President Obama Campaign. Look for more Super Markets being built in the Inner City in 2010-2012 to better feed the Poor in the Inner City.

Good News - there will be lots of Financing Opportunities, a few construction jobs, and lots of super market jobs (but, ironically no new sources of food supplies).

[Raz]

Re: Food costs jump most in 26 years

I'm sure this has nothing at all to do with our nation's Earth Friendly Corn Ethanol project.

I ran a grain farm for my family for eight years back in the 1970s. I've also read studies by agriculture departments at the University of Missouri, Arkansas and Illinois. Popular Mechanics featured a cover story on Biofuels several years ago.

Ethanol is a crock - it takes as many btus as it gives, and is little more than a sop to the corn producers of the Midwest.
Another fine example of the "leadership" provided by our public serpents - of both major parties.

[Rajiv]

Re: Food costs jump most in 26 years

Why aren't we encouraging Children to go into Agriculture. Instead, more and more Students will flock to studying gaming or hope to design the next Ipod device to become Steve Jobs.

I was listening to Bill McKibben last night, and he made a statement, that the trends on people entering and exiting the farming profession had reversed, and more people were entering the profession than leaving -- and all the growth had occurred in small farms. For the first time in over a decade, the number of farmers exceeded 1% of the population.

The interview with Bill McKibben below

Living Room - April 22, 2010 at 12:00pm

Click to listen (or download)

[c1ue]

Re: Food costs jump most in 26 years

To be fair, the comparisons of price increases vs. last year aren't very good - last year was a deflationary period.

There is no question in my mind that prices are going up, however.

I think a more useful way to assess food prices would be to gauge the fossil fuel content and compare vs. fossil fuel prices as well as a more general 'basket'.

[FRED]

Re: Food costs jump most in 26 years

Will look into it right away!