Wholesale Food Prices Highest since 74′
These two headlines are quintessential examples of the perennial cycle of government intervention. They offer a vivid portrayal of how the Democrats perfidiously inflate the price of food so that the maximum number of people will be dependent upon their food programs, thus granting them a permanent electoral constituency.
Obama and the Democrat economists have championed a monetary policy of quantitative easing (QE2) over the past few years as a means of reviving the economy. These economic “experts” felt that by abusing the Fed’s mandate to ostensibly print extra money and offer negative real interest rates to banks, the stock market would surge and spawn an economic recovery. It was all for the benefit of Main Street, of course.
In addition, these same selfish market interventionists have perpetuated the ethanol mandates, subsidies, and tariffs that have wreaked havoc on the global food commodities market. As much as 40% of domestic corn is being diverted for the use of ethanol, an extremely inefficient fuel source. The promulgation of this ineffective fuel source, along with Obama’s war on all other efficacious energy sources such as fossil fuels has in turn spiked the cost of transportation of food.
Now, the socialist chickens have come home to roost. After months of QE2 and years of fatuous ethanol and energy policies, food prices are near record highs. The Labor Department reported today that the wholesale measure of food prices, the Producer Price Index (PPI), rose 1.6% in February: