Chart Of The Day: 803 Years Of Global Inflation

You know how you always, think, you know something. You learn bits and pieces of a subject, until gradually, you're pretty sure, that you have a solidly formed picture, in your own mind, on what you've studied?

Well this is a test, to see exactly how well, you envisioned what you studied.

It's not a hard test, but I will tell you, I failed on a subject that I was positive, that I had down solid.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, well then this one is worth a million
(inflation, you know) lol "Who could have known"?

Spot the point in this 803 year timeline of world inflation, when the Fed was created.

Jobless youths in Tunisia riot using Facebook

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110111/ap_on_hi_te/af_tunisia_riots_4

And why did it start?
Over lack of a permit to sell fruits and vegetables to earn some money to take care of his own kids.
Micro management over how you can earn some money doesn't go over to well in times of a depression.



In the cruise ship brochures, Tunisia is a land of endless sandy beaches, warm Mediterranean waters, ancient ruins and welcoming bazaars.

But behind the postcard-perfect facade, legions of jobless youths who see no future are seething under the iron-fisted leadership of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, and worried fathers wonder how they will feed their families. Their despair over Tunisia's soaring unemployment and rising food prices has fueled more than three weeks of deadly riots, posing the most significant challenge yet to the 74-year-old leader who grabbed power 23 years ago in a bloodless coup.





The unrest began after Mohamed Bouazizi, a 26-year-old with a university degree, set himself on fire when police in the central town of Sidi Bouzid confiscated the fruits and vegetables he was selling without a permit. He later died in a hospital near Tunis, and his desperate act touched a nerve with educated, unemployed youths nationwide.

Unemployment in Tunisia is officially around 14 percent but is much higher in rural areas and among youths.

The death even sparked several copycat suicides — in the latest, an unemployed 23-year-old climbed an electric pylon Tuesday near Bouazizi's hometown and electrocuted himself, union official Mohamed Fadhel told the AP.

The unrest has hopscotched to towns around the country, concentrated in, but not limited to, regions less visible to the waves of European tourists who flock to Tunisia's beaches. Public buildings, schools, cars and even police stations have been attacked.

Ben Ali, whose portrait hangs in public offices across the country, has labeled the rioting "terrorist acts" controlled from abroad. On Monday, he ordered all high schools and universities, seen as hotbeds of activism, to shut down indefinitely.

The Cost of Thanksgiving Dinner

http://www.cnbc.com/id/40151124?__source=yahoo|related|story|text|&par=yahoo



Although you may have plenty to be thankful for this year, the cost of Thanksgiving dinner may not be one of them, as the cost has increased, albeit marginally, from 2009.

The cost of a Thanksgiving dinner has increased 1.3 percent from last year, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation’s annual study.

No Inflation? Grocery Stores, Gas Prices Tell Different Story

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/No-Inflation-Grocery-Stores-cnbc-1559291069.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=1&asset=&ccode=

America, have you figured out Ben and the Federal Reserve as well as the government doesn't work for you yet?
Because if you haven't,
Here's your proof!


From grocery stores to gas stations and most other consumer stops in between, price inflation is shaping up to be the biggest economic story ahead.



Whether it's how much you'll pay for home heating oil or a loaf of bread, don't believe the non-hype: Even if traditional measures of consumer prices aren't yet showing major increases, consumers know what they see.

"It's not good news from a whole variety of perspectives," says Nicholas Colas, chief investment strategist at BNY ConvergEx in New York. "Food inflation is getting very bad and that's just bad news for the majority of consumers who are still stretched. It's bad news for the 42 million people who are on food stamps."

Price inflation is coming primarily from upward global pressure on commodities like the multiple grains that go into food production as well as heating oil and gasoline that power the world's growing economies.

It's also being driven by a weak dollar, which has continued to fall in value as the Federal Reserve has printed more and more money to pay for programs it hopes will stimulate growth.

A Quick Glance At Real World Inflation

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/quick-glance-real-world-inflation

QE2 is next week,
What Casey's chart is showing you is how much food prices have jumped from the other bailouts that Big Ben has dumped into the system.
QE2 make those look like a joke.
The price of food has gone up 48% in the last year.
Now think of a single parent trying to manage this rise, unless their a brain surgeon, they're hurtin bad.
QE2 will pretty much do them in.

The Casey Report provides a useful glance at the real inflation currently ravaging items that are actually purchased by Americans, not those captured by the Fed's BLS statistics: "On average, our basic food costs have increased by an incredible 48% over the last year (measured by wheat, corn, oats, and canola prices). From the price at the pump to heating your stove, energy costs are up 23% on average (heating oil, gasoline, natural gas). A little protein at dinner is now 39% higher (beef and pork), and your morning cup of coffee with a little sugar has risen by 36% since last October." Of course, the ongoing deflation in items purchases requiring leverage will continue to skew the CPI so far south to make all those who bought 5 Year TIPS yesterday at negative yields end up losing money on the transaction.

Chart of the Week: Inflation in the Real World, by Jake Webber of Casey Report

Global food crisis forecast as prices reach record highs

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/oct/25/impending-global-food-crisis

Harvests are better and the global food stock is better, but our food is going to sky rocket.
Does that make sense to you?
Some things should not be traded "for profit".
Food is one of them.
You can't just walk away, if the cost of food goes to high.
It a basic necessity that no one can do with out, no matter how rich or poor you are.
Like electricity, there should be price controls set.
Speculators have no business being able to drive up the costs of the everyday essential areas that a human needs for basic survival.
Greed is driving this run, that and the dollar's buying power, which is so heavely weighed down by debt, that it buys virtually nothing.
And it will buy even less when the FED releases QE2.


Cost of meat, sugar, rice, wheat and maize soars as World Bank predicts five years of price volatility


However, opinions are sharply divided over whether these prices signal a world food crisis like the one in 2008 that helped cause riots in 25 countries, or simply reflect volatility in global commodity markets as countries claw their way through recession.

"A food crisis on the scale of two or three years ago is not imminent, but the underlying causes [of what happened then] are still there," said Chris Leather, Oxfam's food policy adviser.

"Prices are volatile and there is a lot of nervousness in the market. There are big differences between now and 2008. Harvests are generally better, global food stocks are better

USDA says food inflation 'to accelerate" into 2011

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/usda-says-food-inflation-to-accelerate-into-2011-2010-10-25-1027230?siteid=yhoof2

Stock up now kids, if you can.
Because after QE2 you won't be able to buy much at all.
Because the buying power of the dollar won't be worth a damned thing.


Food inflation will "accelerate" during the final months of 2010 and into the first six months of 2011, the U.S. Agriculture Department said Monday. "Although inflation has been relatively weak for most of 2009 and 2010, higher food commodity and energy prices are now exerting pressure on wholesale and retail food prices