Comments on: Rice Panic

By: Polimom Says » Rice, ghosts, and icons

Polimom Says » Rice, ghosts, and icons — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 15:06:28 +0000

[...] Yesterday, I got all caught up in a global economy story. [...]

By: daveinboca

daveinboca — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 06:58:55 +0000

US corn is going at $6/bushel, so it's a good time for the agrarian types in Iowa & Nebraska.

By: Slamfu

Slamfu — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 01:03:59 +0000

What does that have to do with the price of rice in China?

I've always wanted to say that and mean it.

By: lurxst

lurxst — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 00:01:12 +0000

Corn at $6 a bushel. Ouch
Legions of over the road truck drivers unable to afford their livelihood due to petroleum prices. Ouch. My local food prices rose 20% in last 12 months. Ouch.

Thank the founders for the 2nd amendment.

By: Polimom

Polimom — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 23:19:04 +0000

Dave's right; the situation is incredibly complex. David Ignatius also had something on this in WaPo today (link, going into further detail on the equation.

This situation caught my eye primarily because the global impact of various economic factors seems to be passing completely beneath our radar. (and also, I guess, because I live in an area that no longer farms rice, but used to).

The ripple effects from a world-wide grain shortage -- or even a perceived shortage -- would be massive.

By: Dave_Schuler

Dave_Schuler — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 23:17:28 +0000

BTW, U. S. rice farmers are not expected to be great beneficiaries of the price increases: bans on genetically modified grains.

By: Dave_Schuler

Dave_Schuler — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 23:07:51 +0000

The situation is more complicated than might be gathered from the article cited. With the exception of Mexico, all of the countries in your list have substantial tariff and non-tariff barriers to the importation of rice. The world price of rice may, indeed, be rising for the reasons listed but tariffs and non-tariff barriers are a more significant source of high costs in many countries.

For many countries food self-sufficiency is seen as a national priority. I'm in no position to comment on the legitimacy of such a goal for any given country. Suffice it to say that such a policy will have its costs.

By: runasim

runasim — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 22:59:14 +0000

Although the news is not good (good news being such a rate commocity), it's a relief to get away from primary wars.
We need a reminder now and then that there are problems out there much more setious than Hillay and Obama combined.

Rice. Grain, in general.
I would add water,, for starters.

And how many millions have been spent on the primaries so far?
How many millions will be spent in the general election?

By: LadyLogician

LadyLogician — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 22:07:09 +0000

It's not just rice….it's grain products all in all. As the price of corn goes up (due to ethanol) people are turning to other grains and as that happens those prices go up as well.