PNW - With prices already soaring, global inflation is about to go into overdrive as the leading food price indicator, the Bloomberg Agri spot index hit the highest level in six years.
In a nutshell, this is a problem since food is a large component of CPI baskets in Asia, and "this large inflationary impulse in the region that houses more than half the world's population should result in higher wage costs in the factory base of the world. As CPI and PPI rise in Asia, it will feed through globally in the months ahead."
Today, DB's Jim Reid picked that chart as his "Chart of the day", repeating what readers already know, namely that Bloomberg's agriculture spot index has risen by c.76% year-on-year, noting that "that's the biggest annual rise in nearly a decade, and there are only a couple of other comparable episodes since the index begins back in 1991."
Reid then patiently tries to explain that the importance of this record surge "extends far beyond your weekly shop, as there's an extensive literature connecting higher food prices to periods of social unrest." Indeed, the last big surge from the middle of 2010 to early 2011 coincided with the start of the Arab Spring, for which food inflation is regarded as a contributing factor.
While this is hardly new - we discussed it in "Why Albert Edwards Is Starting To Panic About Soaring Food Prices" and in "We Are Edging Closer To.....READ MORE
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