FOOD CRISIS AND OPPORTUNITY
I'm resisting the temptation to engage in black humor and entitle this How To Profit From The Coming World Starvation.
While we don't need to go apocalyptic, it's obvious to anyone who goes grocery shopping that food prices are skyrocketing. And while we may complain about this here in the US, it's getting worse around the world - in many places a lot worse.
This is more serious than the price of oil, and that's bad enough. Gas in the US is headed to $5 a gallon, while in many European countries such as Portugal it's already close to $9. It's easier to cut down on driving than eating. We can scrimp and save on food as this report shows, but no one wants to starve.
That's why food riots are taking place across the globe. From December 2008 to February 2010, global food prices have risen more than 60% -- and research by IMF economists is showing that with every 10% increase in food prices comes a 100% increase in antigovernment protests.
This is particularly true in low-income countries - such as Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen, which is why antigovernment revolutions there started with food riots.
The IMF researchers found much less of a correlation between food prices and political unrest in high-income countries - but that's going to change, certainly in the US.
