“Prices Soar on Crop Woes” reads the headline in today’s Wall Street Journal.
Global output of key crops such as corn, soybeans and wheat is down, and their prices are up, respectively, 94%, 51% and 80% from June lows. Today’s PPI report has wholesale prices up 1.1% in December after rising 0.8% in November. The Journal reminds us that in 2008 high food prices sparked riots around the world.
Meanwhile Fed officials tell us they don’t expect inflation. It is not an issue of expecting inflation, but of observing it here and now. The Fed prefers, of course, to look at “core” inflation rates, which are much lower. A former Fed colleague explained to me the central bank does so on the theory that people do not need to drive to work and can stop eating.
In our global economy, easy US monetary policy has thus far mainly affected commodity prices (including now food), real-estate in Asia and now broader price measures in Asia. It is implausible that the US would remain unaffected. Food, energy and clothing prices are all rising. I don’t think many households are presently gripped with a fear of deflation.
In the Mises/Hayek theory of economic fluctuations, the transmission of monetary shocks works through producer prices and incomes, and only later consumer prices. No measure of consumer prices, and certainly not a subset of consumer prices, is an adequate gauge of inflation.
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Of course crop production is down, it’s winter.
And after increasing currency by over 300%, why is this any surprise or news? The only positive element outcome of this story is the big pile of worthless pulp we can stuff in Paul Krugman’s mouth…