Filthy Economics - Week of 4-7-08

Filthy Rich News - Week of 4-7-08 Price of corn Skyrocketing corn prices hit ethanol profits @ timesonline http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/natural_resources/article3694554.ece

The price of a bushel of corn soared above $6 on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange last week, pushed higher by news that American farmers were planting less corn. Farmers planted a record 94 million acres of corn last year but the US Department of Agriculture forecasts only 86 million acres this year as farmers switch from corn to soya bean, another crop that is generating record profits. Expensive corn is hurting the livestock industry, which in turn will raise the price of meat, Rich Feltes, senior vice-president of commodity research for MF Global, said. “Hog producers are liquidating sows, the farmers are operating in the red,” he said.

World Bank sees food prices rising Says rise likely to persist for several years; demand, diets, biofuels blamed. http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/World_Bank_expects_more_high_food_p_04072008.html

OPEC - Over the weekend, the secretary general of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Abdullah al-Badri, rejected calls for an increase in the cartel's crude output, saying that non-fundamental factors were to blame for current high prices. "At the moment there is enough oil in the market and no need to change OPEC's output," al-Badri said in Tehran late Saturday. In recent weeks, oil prices have gained on the back of a weak US currency.

Oil prices breach 109 dollars after OPEC rejects output hike calls [07 Apr 2008] LONDON (AFP) http://www.servihoo.com/Aujourdhui/kinews/afp_details.php?id=196947&CategoryID=47

Over the weekend, the secretary general of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Abdullah al-Badri, rejected calls for an increase in the cartel's crude output, saying that non-fundamental factors were to blame for current high prices. "At the moment there is enough oil in the market and no need to change OPEC's output," al-Badri said in Tehran late Saturday. In recent weeks, oil prices have gained on the back of a weak US currency He blamed the "US economic recession, lack of refining capacity and depreciation of the dollar's value" for record oil prices.

IMF, World Bank say world is falling short of global economic goals set in 2000 @ Thomson Financial News via forbes http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2008/04/08/afx4867075.html

WASHINGTON (Thomson Financial) - Most countries will fall short of nutrition, health, education and other global development goals established in 2000 at the United Nations Millennium Summit, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB) said today. ~snip~ Another barrier to global economic growth and development is higher prices for oil and food, especially since poor people in developing countries spend as much as half of their income on food.

DEVELOPING COUNTRIES? Anybody at WB or IMF buy eggs or gasoline in the US lately? Ah that wonderful IMF is just a wealth of good news! IMF says US recession could go global Radio Australia - Updated Fri Apr 11, 2008 10:53am AEST http://www.abc.net.au/ra/programguide/stories/200804/s2214106.htm In its second report in two days the International Monetary Fund has painted a grim picture for the world economy. The IMF says there's a one in four chance of the world slipping into recessioN. • TODAY'S LONDON GOLD FIX: $927.75 • TODAY'S LONDON SILVER FIX: $17.95 • Light, sweet crude for May delivery rose 3 cents to settle at $110.14 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. • Gas prices at the pump added 0.8 cent to $3.365 a gallon, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. THIS JUST IN: Brown calls for G8 action on food crisis Thu Apr 10, 2008 9:00am BST @ Reuters UK

In an April 8 letter, Brown asked Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, as chair of Group of Eight industrial nations, to request the international agencies develop a global strategy to address the problem of rising food costs. ~snip~ Brown also called for World Bank and IMF financial support for countries facing balance of payments difficulties because of the price hikes. He said market-based risk management instruments, including derivatives, could also be considered to avert food price volatility. THREE PAGES AT LINK!

ILWU to Shut Down West Coast Ports May 1 to Protest War @ indybay.org In a major step for the U.S. labor movement, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) has announced that it will shut down West Coast ports on May 1, to demand an immediate end to the war and occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan and the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the Middle East.

In a major step for the U.S. labor movement, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) has announced that it will shut down West Coast ports on May 1, to demand an immediate end to the war and occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan and the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the Middle East. In a February 22 letter to AFL-CIO president John Sweeney, ILWU International president Robert McEllrath reported that at a recent coast-wide union meeting, “One of the resolutions adopted by caucus delegates called on longshore workers to stop work during the day shift on May 1, 2008 to express their opposition to the war in Iraq.”

Reminds me of the "Battle of The Body" joke among the Brain, Heart and Anus.