'Doomsday Dog' is never wrong! :)
Posted on 05/24/2008 10:47:40 AM PDT by BGHater
· Merrill says gap between rich and poor will worsen · Governments must curb rising prices, insists bank
Riots, protests and political unrest could multiply in the developing world as soaring inflation widens the gap between the "haves" and the "have nots", an investment bank predicted yesterday.
Economists at Merrill Lynch view inflation as an "accident waiting to happen". As prices for food and commodities surge, the bank expects global inflation to rise from 3.5% to 4.9% this year. In emerging markets, the average rate is to be 7.3%.
The cost of food and fuel has already been cited as a factor leading to violence in Haiti, protests by Argentinian farmers and riots in sub-Saharan Africa, including attacks on immigrants in South African townships.
Merrill's chief international economist, Alex Patelis, said this could be the tip of the iceberg, warning of more trouble "between nations and within nations" as people struggle to pay for everyday goods. "Inflation has distributional effects. If everyone's income moved by the same rate, you wouldn't care - but it doesn't," said Patelis. "You have pensioners on fixed pensions. Some people produce rice that triples in price, while others consume it."
A report by Merrill urges governments to crack down on inflation, describing the phenomenon as the primary driver of macroeconomic trends. The problem has emerged from poor food harvests, sluggish supplies of energy and soaring demand in rapidly industrialising countries such as China, where wage inflation has reached 18%.
Unless policymakers take action to dampen prices and wages, Merrill says sudden shortages could become more frequent. The bank cited power cuts in South Africa and a run on rice in Californian supermarkets as recent examples.
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
Economic warfare is going to take on a whole new meaning in the 21st century.
I hope I live long enough to see the foreign debt get called in and the entitlement class trying to cash worthless monthly checks.
By that time pensioners will screaming too.
“Riots, protests and political unrest could multiply in the developing world as soaring inflation widens the gap between the “haves” and the “have nots”, an investment bank predicted yesterday.”
Let me be the first to say it...Bush’s Fault™.
Time to elect Nobama...right?
“Economic warfare is going to take on a whole new meaning in the 21st century.”
We will lose big unless we become energy independent ASAP.
Drill for oil.
Why didn’t any of this happen under ‘Jimmuh Cahtah’ when interest rates were at 21%?
I read a report that negative reports on the economy get more reporting in an election year, mainly by lefty reporters when a Democratic may be reporting for duty in November. I’m just reporting on the reporters reporting reports.
The next gloom/doom problem thest the left will try to indicate that only centralized /one world government can fix. Like the UN produces peace and the USSR was able to provide food to all except the Georgians of course.
The New & improved Globull warming excuse.
And where do the Saudi’s get most of their food? They want higher prices for oil? I wonder how much the price of their food will go up? Something is going on that we don’t know about.
One thing to remember, if we dump oil into the salt caves, where are other nations, like China dumping their oil and why?
Duh, waht in the hell do they think the reason the Socialists have been doing the things that are causing the prices to get out of control for?
They need a revolution to take over.
Keep your powder dry folks.
“Oh no, oh no! We had better redistribute money to them before they hurt us...” /sarcasm
'Doomsday Dog' is never wrong! :)
That was my first thought too, but whether "Merrill urges governments to crack down on inflation" or not, a more disturbing idea is the fact that there are so many idiot freepers on this thread that actually believe "Governments must curb rising prices" in order to reduce "the gap between the "haves" and the "have nots".
Anybody here know of some kind of spray that gets rid of socialists?
Quite possible, but please excuse my cynical outlook of that happening even this time around. Having experienced the '70s oil embargo and gas rationing, our country had every reason then as now to make our nation and economy energy independent and for the following 30 years have failed miserably, in fact as far as the automobile industry is concerned, becoming even worse IMO, by the current glut of land yachts, SUV's, and power trucks currently flooding the highways.
We as a nation became collectively lazy and apathetic when the oil started flowing again and prices started dropping after the embargo, and quickly forgot the mess we were in during the crisis. With the mentality of self gratification and sense of entitlement this latest generation has grown to know, as fuel prices get higher and tempers get hotter this time around, it won't surprise me to see episodes of violence and chaos crop up in the not to distant future.
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