This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
Record Number Of People Say They Are Paying More For Groceries Now Than Ever Before
Somehow even as all that deflation in home prices continues, like perfectly joined communicating vessels, countervailing inflation continues seeping into pretty much every other aspect of society. But don't take our word for it, (or even gold's, which is just under all time record notional highs): according to Rasmussen, "Americans nationwide continue to lose faith in the Federal Reserve Board to keep inflation under control, with the number who say they are paying more for groceries now at an all-time high." Specifically, "93% of adults report paying more for groceries now than they did a year ago, the highest finding to date. Only four percent (4%) say they’re not paying more for groceries now compared to a year ago. Prior to the latest results, the number that said they are paying more for groceries ranged from low of 75% in April 2010 to a high of 91% in May of this year." However, since many of these same adults are transferring intangible "savings" from their non-payable mortgage check courtesy of a home market that has now ground to a halt for over 6 months, aka squatters rent, to pay for staples, few really mind. They just like to bitch and moan about it because it means fewer Apps downloaded for the iPad.
What is probably just as interesting, is that when it comes to trusting the Fed: that source of unlimited liberal policy, Democrats, as is to be expected, are far more confident that the Fed can keep inflation under control. Or, in other words, have faith that it can do anything at all correctly: a faith that has long since been lost virtually in every other segment of society. Not surprisingly, those whose money is in the market, and are invested in the US, are also hoping the Fed knows what it is doing. Then again as we presented recently, this is a very paltry number on a relative basis, one can see why the bulk of the population is starting to loathe Bernanke and all he represents with a vengeance:
Democrats hold more confidence in the Fed to keep inflation under control and interest rates down than do Republicans and adults not affiliated with either major party.
Investors are slightly more confident than non-investors that the Fed can handle both of these matters.
Yet no matter how they feel about hopium, when it comes to moneyum, everyone is angry:
But strong majorities of adults from all demographic groups agree they are paying more for groceries now than they were a year ago.
These findings add to a string of survey findings showing very negative perceptions of the economy among Americans.
Speaking of confidence, there is none:
Confidence among Americans in the stability of the nation’s banking industry has hit rock bottom.
Overall consumer confidence as measured in the Rasmussen Consumer Index is now hovering above the lowest levels of the post-9/11 era.
Bottom line, some may be surprised to see that a media campaign focused on bashing Perry and his incendiary anti-Fed remarks, may backfire massively:
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of American Adults shows that just 31% are at least somewhat confident that the Fed will be able to keep inflation under control and interest rates down, and that includes only eight percent (8%) who are Very Confident. Sixty-five percent (65%) are not confident the Fed can keep inflation and interest rates under control, with 25% who are Not At All Confident. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
Prior to the latest survey, overall confidence in the Fed to handle inflation and interest rates ranged from a low of 32% to a high of 41%. The number who hold no confidence at all is now at its highest level in nearly two years.
Indeed, this is already happening:
Texas Gov. Rick Perry took a double-digit lead over former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R., Minn.) in a Rasmussen Reports survey taken Monday night, two days after Mr. Perry joined the race.
The poll showed Mr. Perry, who entered the race on Saturday, had the support of 29% of likely GOP primary voters, while Mr. Romney had 18% and Ms. Bachmann, who won the Iowa straw poll, garnered 13% of the vote.
Scott Rasmussen, the founder and president of the polling firm, attributed Mr. Perry’s high marks in part to excitement surrounding his entry into the race.
“Gov. Perry is enjoying a bounce from entering the race at precisely the right time,” Mr. Rasmussen said in a summary of the poll. “Now the difficult part begins for the new frontrunner. It’s much easier winning support when people are hoping you will get in the race, than retaining support when you are the frontrunner.”
(Naturally Ron Paul somehow as usual did not make the cut: Rounding out the field, the poll showed Texas Rep. Ron Paul received 9% of the vote; businessman Herman Cain, 6%; former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, 5%; former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman each got 1%.)
The take home message here is that i) deflation, especially for things that people need, is rampant, ii) everyone loves the Fed, and iii) sarcasm is a popular trope on the pages of Zero Hedge.
h/t John Lohman
»
- 20746 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
- advertisements -
The only place there is no increase in inflation is the Cost of Living adjustment for Social Security.
+1
Cramer was trying to explain that Walmart was losing customers because they don't offer enough healthy food. In my neck of the woods, that just is not true. I have begun shopping less and less at Walmart (for food) because their prices have been rising a lot lately on many things I eat. Many of my friends have also remarked about how Walmart prices are going up. The super chains have better deals. Lucky for me, this time of year my grocery bill is a lot smaller because I have a lot of stuff coming out of the garden. Yay home grown fresh organic food!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUkbdjetlY8
Careful there! The USDA owns the labe "Organic" and you must obey regulations and pay for that label!
"Before a product can be labeled ‘organic,’ a Government-approved certifier inspects the farm where the food is grown to make sure the farmer is following all the rules necessary to meet USDA organic standards. Companies that handle or process organic food before it gets to your local supermarket or restaurant must be certified, too.” Consumer Brochure, USDA National Organic Program, http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/Consumers/brochure.html"
http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/pubs/ofp/ofp.shtml
The sad thing is that bad businesses make regulation like this that only ends up hurting honest people necessary.
Look out for a swat team! Tuco
Not to worry.... unless of course you happen to have a thorium reactor mixed in with your organic products:
http://commonsensehomesteading.blogspot.com/2011/08/homeschool-family-raided-by-swat-team.html
My favorite line from the clip: "The boys were convinced that a sample of thorium about the size of packing peanut will provide all of our energy needs for years. How could I say no?""
What's a parent to do? Boys will be boys.
"Record Number Of People Say They Are Paying More For Groceries Now Than Ever Before"
They better shut up and compare US prices to European prices.
How about 8$+/gallon Gas compare to $4/g in USA?
Us food prices can compete with India and China
as well. The best advise, eat 50% less, too many fat people.
Higher food prices can help to lose some weight to 80% US
population and safe few hundred billions of $ on Medicate/Medicare
after all :)))
The bald headed professor from Princeton masquerading as a Fed chairman says these food prices are transitory and not to worry.......His lip was quivering a little though.
Barney Frank was entering Ben's office while unzipping his fly! Tuco
in the late 90sat college i would go to the store and spend $45 on food and that would last me a month. Now for $40 you can buy a couple boxes of cereal a gallon of milk, peanut butter, and some bread and that will last you acouple days if you are lucky.
I saw black angus hamburger for $9 a pound. 80/20 ground chuck averages $6 a pound near me. sorry but that is insane since crab legs were still $12 a pound. Perhaps if we get crab traded on the exchange we can get $50 a pound.
An interesting thing to do is look at cheap food and see if you can make it for less. You can buy 12 tacos from Taco Bell for $10. yes thy are crap but it is impossible to buy the supplies for 12 tacos for less than $10 at the grocery store today.
Of course that is the plan, make food so expensive to cook yourself that everyone willeat out and you can easily control the food supply. In California you can use SNAP cards at Pizza Hut.
Oh and if you think you can go off the grid and grow your own food, think again. Wall Street and the US government won't let you soon. We'll be just like the Ukraine with people starving to death next to fields full of grain.
"An interesting thing to do is look at cheap food and see if you can make it for less. You can buy 12 tacos from Taco Bell for $10. yes thy are crap but it is impossible to buy the supplies for 12 tacos for less than $10 at the grocery store today."
Dude, you have to start cooking instead of eating that junk..
I can still buy nice chunk of pure Beef for 2.99/pound even in
our expensive neighborhood.. Add some onion, garlic, spices, later
add some water and then tomato sauce and keep cooking under cover
on low heat for
about 1.5 hour.. It's a lot of nice tasting beef for about 10$..
Add potatoes on the side, some salad, you got the Idea..
Stop eating fast food crap and you'll be fine..
"Perhaps if we get crab traded on the exchange we can get $50 a pound."
Heh, heh.
crabs from the gulf of mexico are meatier with more legs. some have 16 on one side. due to mutations from corexit and petroleum. a real bargain.
Tyler, you cover insider buying and selling on here frequently. Can you comment on or refute this CNBS article:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/44161947
Fearless Front Office: Most Insider Buying Since 1998The ratio of sale transactions vs. buy transactions dropped to 0.35, the lowest reading since during the bull market in 1998 and one of the rare occasions when purchases actually outnumbered sales, said the Vickers report from Monday.
Some Perspectives On "Surging" Insider Buying
DOW 14500 by Year End.
bullshit
DJIA 100% pure coke index.... maybe
Thank you.
Real Estate correction is "deflation"? They didn't count real esate in the inflationary statistics during the Bush years.
Since when did inflation "cure" stagflation?
Stagflation=unemployment + inflation.
If you have to speculate in a necessity like food and shelter with subsidized loans because "there's nothing else to make money off of"- you're a loser. Just get out of the game.
Theres' a rather strong disconnect between these people (Wall Street, K, J Streets and Capitol Hill) and reality.
I have one for you.....................
At Meijer just outside of Chicago (came back about an hour ago)
$2.00 for (1) one avacado/
Don't they grow on tree's ?
Chi town , if you live there you are begging to be screwed.
hahahaa
check the avocado's passport (origin sticker) - see how far it's traveled to you.
Change we can believe in...bitchez!
You really shouldn't bash the people that got in over their heads like that. Yes it was a stupid thing to do. However the banks knew full well that dangling all that easy money over the heads of people that probably at least 75% of them wouldn't be able to resist it. And likewise the banks are getting what they deserve for thinking they'd have people on the hook for the rest of their lives. Furthermore, if jobs hadn't exiled the country people would still be able to pay for some of these loans.
So there's trickle down for you. The top brass devised a way to keep us in debt forever and it backfired. They're even more guilty than the people that took these loans. Only a small% of people have the smarts to know better.......and the banks damn well know that.
So here we are........Operation Gobble in full swing with who knows what on it's agenda next(iran? etc), trillions to foreign countries, trillions on war, trillions to banksters. Blame it on grandma and all those horrible, nasty entitlements we looted into bankruptcy.
Fuck the US gov't. As far as im concerned there's not one sob in there that shouldn't be hanging by a tree and if there is there gonna be guilty by association.
If those bastards think we're gonna put up with them prancing around in there motherfukin bowties makin there millions while we rot I have news.
And right on the heels of all this comes the gov't response to helping the people.......$40million worth of fucking chicken for the food pantries.
I am NOT going to live like people in N Korea do and there will be consequences for this I assure you.
Oh and btw I go grocery shopping every week and yes groceries have gone up a lot.
"40 million worth of chicken" Time to slop the hogs.
Yes there is food inflation. Just go read the latest quarterly earnings statement of a large grocer like Kroger or Safeway. Safeway just said it is running around 2% and they want to see 3% that is the long term average and a number customers seem to be ok with.
I say screw this argument about inflation because of money printing and get to the real issue money printing for banks. If we took all the money printing and funneled it directly into tax reductions instead of bankers pockets we would get real consumption not some dip shit buying more oil and corn futures.
The problem isn't that simple that money printing is good or is evil it really matters what you do with the money printed.
Fuck Washington, hope Ron Paul wins.
I put my ipad in my cereal today along with some fresh milk and it was very tasty!
Whether I would vote for Perry or not remains to be seen. I strongly agree with his view of Bernanke. Knowingly debasing the currency is an act of treason in my view. Your move Bernanke.
Fractional reserve banking debases the currency by allowing banks to create money out of thin air. Why isn't anyone pissed off at the money printing from this? Does anyone think that our fractional reserve system magically creates the exactly right amount of money for our economy? That's just fucking stupid.
10:1 fractional banking was not good but livable. When Glass-Stegall was rescinded infinity:1 is now possible. That is why we have $1,500,000,000,000,000.00 in derivatives must be unwound!
10:1 never really existed. There is good research out there that proves that credit comes first and then reserves. I loan you money to buy car. You buy car and dealership deposits money in my bank. They only balance the books at the end of the day not at time of loan. In a fairly closed system like we have you can easily bet 10% of you loans will find their way back to the banking system. If it doesn't end up in your bank you hit the overnight money markets b/c it hit a different bank. The real problem was never 10:1 but whether or not the recipient would pay the loan back.
Perry is a member of the demon elite. Web search Rick Perry - Gardisil and find out what a demon he really is! Tuco
That Fed comment was to throw the sheeple off the trail. Ben Shalom Bernake is Perry's supervisor. Perry has been more than once to the Bilderburgers to bend the knee. Wake up bro.
Only muted not talking about Bernanke and Money printing and all of them trying to rise some political capital on BS speeches.. They all crooks, 99% of those idiots don't have a clue, how FED is operating, including farmer Ron Paul.. Might as well vote for Sara Palin, at least she got some titts.. :)))
Let them eat APPL.
I saw some coffee at normal price, and I said, see honey, it's back down to last year's price. She said how much is in it, I leaned down and picked one up, half height plastic, half as much coffee. Nice trick.
i just raided the dumpster at safeway to get some slop for my three pigs, Guido, Luigi, and Silvio. i ended up making some excellent salsa and a succulent blueberry cobbler of the spoils for myself and my friends. pretty soon though i feel i might have some serious competition for the "garbage".
That's funny they say their shrink (waste) is world class efficient. Good for you making use of it.
Those same people all likely have an Iphone, the newest flat screen TV's, probably a car that is no more than 3 years old, they eat out every other night etc.... Paying more for groceries & clothing?? Yes probably but like we said in NYC -- people are forced to take it in stride. Speaking of NYC, it already costs $6.50 toll each way to cross many of the bridges (each way) but traffic volumes are hardly going down.
Remember people retailers are charging this because people are paying. People need to live within their means, stop popping out kids they can't afford, stop depending on entitlements from the gov't, stop depending on the Earned Income Tax Credit & Medicaid as a god given right etc...
As I have said here before, I was in over $75,000 in credit card debt by the end of 2008, I paid off alot of it and now just under $15,000. Unlike many others, I was able to take responsibility and admit that yeah I did do what everyone else my age (late 20's ) did, spent on clothes, meals out, moved several times etc..
I do make close to six figures but it costs me close to $7,000 a month in basic expenses. Yes, basic meaning things like concerts, trips, vacations, bars are out. No wife, child, parent or even pet to support but life is friggin expensive anywhere in the northeast
Those same people all likely have an Iphone, the newest flat screen TV's, probably a car that is no more than 3 years old, they eat out every other night etc.... Paying more for groceries & clothing?? Yes probably but like we said in NYC -- people are forced to take it in stride. Speaking of NYC, it already costs $6.50 toll each way to cross many of the bridges (each way) but traffic volumes are hardly going down.
Remember people retailers are charging this because people are paying. People need to live within their means, stop popping out kids they can't afford, stop depending on entitlements from the gov't, stop depending on the Earned Income Tax Credit & Medicaid as a god given right etc...
As I have said here before, I was in over $75,000 in credit card debt by the end of 2008, I paid off alot of it and now just under $15,000. Unlike many others, I was able to take responsibility and admit that yeah I did do what everyone else my age (late 20's ) did, spent on clothes, meals out, moved several times etc..
I do make close to six figures but it costs me close to $7,000 a month in basic expenses. Yes, basic meaning things like concerts, trips, vacations, bars are out. No wife, child, parent or even pet to support but life is friggin expensive anywhere in the northeast
Bro, message received the first time, no need to say it again. Get out of debt now. Bankster credit cards are the devil's tools. No debt equals freedom.
$7,000 in "basic expenses" DEFINES you as completely out of touch with the vast majority of the citizenry, bro.
Enjoy it while you can. Go to concerts, eat out, go on trips. That ride ain't gonna last.
Uh, I said I DO NOT do those things anymore because I cannot afford them and don't have mummy or daddy or a Significant other to pay my rent or bail me out.. Of course the cost of groceries (and everything else is going up).. I don't know how people can afford children (and the expenses that go along with them) unless they are making more than say $300,000??
Ex. Rents are going parabolic here in eastern Massachusetts because landlords know that those who decide to rent either don't qualify to buy or have mommy & daddy to pay their rent. The point is that most inflation is occuring because the people are willingly paying the prices. Consumer spending adjusted for inflation is at a record high. The consumer metrics index which only measures dicretionary spending has gone parabolic to the upside since May. Lets see how early the lines form when Iphone 5 is released and how many fights occur on Black Friday this year
$7,000 in BASIC EXPENSES is out-of-whack bullshit crazy. If you're calculating that as "basic expenses," you're completely out of touch with the majority of the citizenry.
I'm in NYC. If I were renting a sweet apartment in Manhattan, driving a Hummer for fun that I owned and paid full collision for, I'd need to spend another $500 (or so) per WEEK to reach $7,000/month in "basic" expenses. Unless you're talking about running a business, that number is total madness.
I'm calling bullshit on $7,000/month being "basic" anything. If you break it down justifiably, I'll stand corrected.
maybe not all basic in the sense of the rod but some of the expenses I included are the $130 a month Sprint wireless plan, $150 a month for cable & internet, $109 for gym membership --- everyone does have these. I do save money by not spending $300 a week on booze and I actually make it to work before 8:30am Friday & Monday morning --- don't straggle in at 9:30am glassy eyed reeking on last nights booze fest.
maybe not all basic in the sense of the rod but some of the expenses I included are the $130 a month Sprint wireless plan, $150 a month for cable & internet, $109 for gym membership --- everyone does have these. I do save money by not spending $300 a week on booze and I actually make it to work before 8:30am Friday & Monday morning --- don't straggle in at 9:30am glassy eyed reeking on last nights booze fest.
maybe not all basic in the sense of the word but some of the expenses I included are the $130 a month Sprint wireless plan, $150 a month for cable & internet, $109 for gym membership --- everyone does have these. I do save money by not spending $300 a week on booze and I actually make it to work before 8:30am Friday & Monday morning --- don't straggle in at 9:30am glassy eyed reeking on last nights booze fest.
OK, call that $400, figure another $250 on other utilities, assume you're leasing a nice ride for $700/month, $300/month for gas, $300/month for basic oranic groceries at Whole Foods... so I guess it's about a
$5000/month rent
...you might be able to cut back a bit on that.
Really? REALLY?
Look--if it's shit like alimony or child-support or whatever, not like there's any shame in that, and seriously I'm not at all the guy who'd tell you what to spend your money on. I'm just saying $7,000 a month expenses is fuckin' nuts unless it includes a major coke habit or something.
(If it's all debt-service, you have my sympathies, but that's some crazy debt.)
Sorry, but I had to doubletake at $7000 "basic" expenses too.
PA is part of the northeast and I make do on about $2000 though it is becoming much more difficult due to pay freezes and inflation (the 2nd job that was a buffer isn't anymore). Mortgage - $1000, electric - $300, trash/sewer - $100, gas - $100, auto insurance - $100, school loan - $100, internet - $50, the rest going towards food, revolving debt, and surprises like when gears suddenly fell out of the transmission in my 15 year old car. I don't have cable TV, a smartphone, magazine subscriptions, a new car, designer clothes, an iPad, a flat-screen TV, a drinking/smoking habit, and alot of other stuff that old people who think they know everything tell people my age to give up. And not only am I a "rich" public employee in Information Technology but probably amongst the better off of my friends. Agree 100% on wondering how anybody's supposed to support a family in this environment.
Have to hand it to the previous two generations though, what a wonderful job they did hollowing out this country and blaming everyone but themselves for the resulting collapse.
Will be going to Austria next month for my yearly visit. Does anybody here have an idea HOW MUCH CHEAPER groceries are over there? Probably not, or we would make a stink about it. Example: A kilo (2 pounds) of tomatoes.... $1.30! Cheese, cold cuts, beer, wine, all on average 25 percent of more cheaper. I guess that food was one of the things our beloved idiots in Washington could not outsource to China to (cause of all the poison scandals and such...), but they just exclude food and energy from our statistics. End of story.
Well, I for one say that our government, and more specifically The Federal Reserve, finally did something worthwhile and beneficial for the population at large, obesity being a major health problem for your average Amercian, not including, of course, anyone from Texas....
My Mom does the shopping. The basement rocks!
and its about to get worse
http://calibratedconfidence.blogspot.com/2011/08/prepare-for-amerikas-lo...
Stop buying corn based junk which is over priced, very low density fat creating garbage that YOU DONT NEED and is the cause of not only your gut but almst every other problem you could possibly ever have.
yes, GMO corn is for feedlots - and it's in everything. all you need to know.
I'd be interested to know how prices compare to pre 2008. I noticed that prices dropped significantly as the recession took hold in 2009. To say that prices are climbing sharply now may be misleading as they are just cominm back to normal.
I suspect that this is not only a problem with food prices but the CPI inflation numbers that the fed ia using. Yes prices jumped recently but I suspect that they are not significantly above (if at all) the pre-subprime crisis numbers.
This misrepresentation could be avoided it one would just provide a graph of prices with a sufficient time horizon.
A picture is a thousand words.
More lies and liars.
Lest people forget,
The US government & the Fed are spreading food inflation around the world.
Although most people in the US can still more or less comfortably absorb rising food costs,
there are many elsewhere in the world who CANNOT. There are billions in the world who subsist on a few dollars per day, and cannot afford price increases that would be small change to most residents of the US.
The UN reports food prices world-wide are skyrocketing upward.
Many people are literally starving as food prices are pushed up by policies to save the banksters.
Some might call that murder most foul.
If our currency goes down, we EXPORT more food. It may be that our cheaper food puts some foreign local farmers out of business, as it has in the past. But the problem is that governments around the world peg their currency to ours. Then their locals can't afford the food.
This interest rate policy, and defacto dollar devaluation is about getting the rest of the world to de-peg their currencies. Then we can sell them the goods we can produce, and they can afford to buy those goods.
The U.S. debt problem is a current account deficit. And that includes oil.
gh
1) "our cheaper food puts some foreign local farmers out of business... But the problem is that governments around the world peg their currency to ours. Then their locals can't afford the food."
No disagreement. But:
It's not simply "cheaper food". It is typically IMF (aka US) imposed "free trade" policies giving locals no protections, and thereby subjecting locals to the vagaries of the international market (including commodity speculation) and the global food enterprises (Monsanto et al).
They peg because the US dollar is the reserve currency, needed to conduct international trade. Especially to get oil. The petrodollar is required principally due to the Mideast client regimes dependent on US military protection.
2) "If our currency goes down, we EXPORT more food."
Not necessarily, and not enough to feed the world, nor make up for the prior destruction of local agriculture (even Haiti used to be food self-sufficient). Besides, its more complicated than that. Inflation also causes and allows US agri-business to raise their prices. Inflation devalues the reserve dollars held by foreigners.
Moreover, the US government restricts food exports as a political weapon.
You mistake the long-term theoretical expectations of "free market" corrections when there is no "free market", and in the short-term waiting for the long-term we all starve.
If the price of food is going up, that must mean that the American farmer can't supply the market with enough food to keep prices down? right? I doubt that! More likely the currency going down means we are exporting more food, or people are eating too much food, still.
so, if Bernank and the Fed are to blame, we can only hope that they change their ways, raise interest rates, slow the economy, put more workers out of jobs, cut off more people from food stamps when the govt. goes broke, the currency rises, China can't afford our pork products, and the farmers can't export and can't afford to take out loans to run their god-forsaken high overhead businesses and then the price of food....SKYROCKETS! DOH!!
gh
Your mocking attempt to exonerate US food policies and portray the agribusiness giants (Monsanto et al) as the food saviours of the world is both misguided and based on economic fantasies.
http://tv.globalresearch.ca/2011/07/new-food-wars-globalization-gmos-and-biofuels
Don't look now but the 2011 corn crop is in trouble.
The 8/12 report was revised down 500 mb to like 13.17 bb. 2010 came in at like 12.87 so another 500 mb reduction puts us below that. Besides what that did to the price of all commodities in 2010-2011, the reserve amount is also now at a record low. Most of the rest of the crops don't look good either, except US rice, and of course cattle production is in really bad shape if McDonald's expects to open a store a day in China for the next three years.
"Record number of people"... woke up and said I can't afford the bacon.
Just gotta say, when you buy "Lite" or "Light" foods you're actually getting LESS.
It's that way for a reason, just sayin!
The 4% could be people like me. We are growing more and more of our own food as the years since 2007 happened. So, I pay about the same as I used to for food when we grew none of our own food.
http://www.commodityonline.com/news/Gold-bars-coins-sold-at-750-premium-...
If you want to see why prices are high look at the corn futures price
http://futures.tradingcharts.com/chart/CN/M
Pre 2007 it was below $200, jumped to $325 in 2007 and spiked at $625 in 2008.
Settled down to $325 post subprime until this year it hit 700.
The past big increases due to ethanol. The most recent due to weather? I'm not an expert.
I looks like ethanol increased corn's"normal" price from less than 200 to 325 with speculation spike in 2008 of $625 and a weather spike in 2011 of $700.
Cheers
Yeah from a consumers standpoint commodities trading doesn't do much good imo. Supply/demand have been replaced with 'buy oil because the chart just made a double bottom' lol. Of course since when are the interests of the avg citizen taken into account? Eventually this whole insane mess will collapse imo because the sheep have been fleeced for the last time. Nothing left but bloody scabs.
I know this would never fly but just joking around.........make it so the traders have to take delivery and make it retroactive with no backing out. You'd see a convoy of corn from GS front doors heading west and it will circle the entire planet approximately 4,500,760 times.
If fraudulant activity, as opposed to,say simple incompetence, is required before we can hang Benanke, then how about ... http://sanders.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/GAO%20Fed%20Investigation.pdf