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How speculators are driving food prices

Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, and others

There is growing evidence that investments on commodity and food markets are making people go hungry. Financial institutions like Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs are speculating with food at the expense of the poorest. According to a new report titled “Die Hunger-Macher” (“The Hunger Makers”), there is a close connection between speculation and rising food prices. WDEV summarises the report written by Harald Schumann and commissioned by the German NGO Foodwatch.

If people have to spend 80% of their income on food – not just 10 to 20% as in wealthy industrialized countries – then an increase in the price of grains, bread and other staples poses an existential threat. In 2011, global average prices for wheat, corn and rice were 150% higher (after adjustment for inflation) than they had been in 2000. In 2010 alone, higher prices for foodstuffs caused 40 million people to go hungry and live in abject poverty ...

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Find in this article:

	Commodity trading as a capital investment strategy
	From useful to excessive speculation
	Prices disconnected from supply and demand
	How betting on commodities drives up the price of bread
	Regulation saves lives!
	How to regulate: A call for action

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WDEV Recent Issues

Issue 6/Nov-Dec 2011
G20: Wrong forum for development + German aid under Niebel + London contra FTT + Food speculation: How it works
Issue 5/Sep-Oct 2011
The global social crisis +++ Thanks to Germany it's 2008 all over again +++ Nepal: Second chance for Maoists
Issue 4/Jul-Aug 2011
Non-FDI modes of international production + Bail-out 2.0 for Greece + Europe: Tobin tax on the move
Issue 3/May-Jun 2011
Survey on trade union rights violation + BRICS on the new IMF director + Greece and the euro + Green Economy for LDCs?
Issue 2/Mar-Apr 2011
LDC-IV in Istanbul +++ Reforming the global monetary system: Whick role for the IMF +++ Escalation of food prices +++ Remittances and development
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