Why didn't Helicopter Ben use his helicopter?

[Felch]

The Fed's ability to control commodity prices is irrelevant. The only thing that matters is the voting public's perception. Just think of how many politically active Americans believe that the President is a Kenyan born Muslim, and then tell me how far you're going to get expanding the money supply while food and fuel prices are rising. The Fed's isolation from this sort of bull**** only exists as long as Congress doesn't decide to make it a scape goat.

So long as Tea party loons are raging against the Fed, Ben has to be extra careful about the political consequences.

[Traianvs]

Agreed.

That's just one factor into play, and not even among the most important ones.

[Heraclitus]

They were white prisoners, so I doubt he'd acknowledge the validity of the comparison.

Why not?

Edit:

Well, yeah. But most of his opprobrium is for blacks and Hispanics. He wouldn't admit the comparison between white prisoners and, say, today's American prison population.

ah, lol

[Traianvs]

Ethanol is part of it but world food prices have been going up for a very long time at near record paces much beyond just the US. My understanding is that so much of the third world suddenly has money and is now demanding meat that that is the main issue. The secondary issue is the massive increase in petroleum based fertilizers around the world combined with the increase in petrol prices (which, once again, is caused by big increases in world demand due to 3rd worlders becoming motorized for the first time). That means the costs of inputs like fertilizers is going up, transport costs are going up, while demand is sky rocketing because it takes so much grain to feed live stock. The end result is record food prices year after year.

Sure, I'd love to kill corn based ethanol because it's a complete waste which uses more oil equivalents then it creates (it's a net negative process) but it's also a political bribe to ****ty states in fly over country which they'll never give up.

Spot on. It's goddamn tomfoolery to keep pushing for a western pattern of food production and consumption. Especially in view of the fact that many poverty stricken countries would be self-sufficient if it weren't for oversubsidized western crops, food speculation and dependence on monoculture and multinational agro-industries. It's a well-known contention for a long time now, featuring in innumerable studies of the UN (FAO, UNDP etc.) and other institutions.

In many cases in developing countries, knowledge intensive agroecological farming renders farmers self-sufficient. Impervious to speculation, improving the sustainability of their own farmland and independent of oil based fertilizers, they earn a lot more + they are less affected by shocks on the world markets. It doesn't always work, but in many cases it does...

[DaShi]

The answer to this question is soooo obvious.

[Jon Miller]

I don't think you understand the reason the Fed targets inflation/the price level. The purpose is not to keep stuff from getting more expensive relative to wages, which is well beyond the Fed's abilities.

I know that.

The issue is one of buckets, what is the best measure. And people complain about the poor not saving... maybe there is a good reason for it (that they are facing much higher inflation).

JM

[Tupac Shakur]

Spot on. It's goddamn tomfoolery to keep pushing for a western pattern of food production and consumption. Especially in view of the fact that many poverty stricken countries would be self-sufficient if it weren't for oversubsidized western crops, food speculation and dependence on monoculture and multinational agro-industries. It's a well-known contention for a long time now, featuring in innumerable studies of the UN (FAO, UNDP etc.) and other institutions.

In many cases in developing countries, knowledge intensive agroecological farming renders farmers self-sufficient. Impervious to speculation, improving the sustainability of their own farmland and independent of oil based fertilizers, they earn a lot more + they are less affected by shocks on the world markets. It doesn't always work, but in many cases it does...

Really? No one's going to fire back on this? This is a perfect opportunity for one of the young bucks to get some reps...

[Felch]

What young bucks? Besides, after he mentioned "knowledge intensive agroecological farming," I had a tough time taking him seriously.

[Tupac Shakur]

What young bucks?

Was thinking HC or gribbler. Albie isn't young, but he could also use some confidence-boosting light work.