So what caused the French Revolution? Food prices did. A hailstorm destroyed French crops, food prices rose 88 per cent in one year, and hungry Parisians turned on their rulers. Ditto with the Tian-an-men showdown exactly 200 years later, in 1989: consumer prices rose 21 per cent in a country that had known virtually no inflation under Communist rule. The Suharto regime got overthrown in Indonesia in 1998 after food...
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Modernisation of agri marketing needed: Montek
Inflation in vegetables to come down to 7% by March Modernisation of agricultural marketing is important when dealing with inflation in the long run, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of the planning commission, said here today. “The present system of intermediation is high costs and an efficient supply chain. Stress has to be laid on ensuring that farmers are able to realize higher margins, while consumers are able to get cheaper commodities”,...
More »Neoliberal illogic by Prabhat Patnaik
The class bias in government policy is clear in the decision to release a small amount of foodgrain in the open market to tackle inflation. MOST people would agree that there is a strong element of speculation underlying the current inflation and that forward trading contributes to it. Yet the government, though it has banned forward trading in certain commodities under public pressure, is curiously reluctant to see this point....
More »Of margins and the marginalised by Jayati Ghosh
The countrywide share of corporate retail in food distribution tripled in the past four years when retail food prices showed the greatest increase. THE dramatic increase in food inflation over the past two years has been associated with several surprises. One major surprise has been how the top economic policymakers in the country have responded to it. The initial response was one of apparent disbelief, followed very quickly by the...
More »Food inflation is no mystery by Soma Banerjee
If you thought only onion made headlines and governments fall, here is some more food for thought. The retail prices of brinjal soared 110% and those of tomato by 125% between the first weeks of November 2010 and January 2011, while the rise in crude oil paled in comparison, climbing about 12% in the same period. While import-dependent economies are struggling to keep their fiscal math in shape with crude...
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