Silver Linings

One bright spot in the global economic picture: worldwide financial collapse has led to lower food prices! From the Economist, the global food price index is down 16 percent from a month ago, and is essentially unchanged from prices a year ago.

Global Food Prices

Global food prices have dropped out of the headlines, lacking the drama of early July, which seems an eternity ago. Today’s Economist food price index sits at 232.2, up just 17 percent from a year ago. Positively tame in comparison.

An Order of Magnitude for the Poor Folk

I don’t really understand what the $700 billion being discussed as a bailout for the mortgage/credit mess means, but here’s a nice benchmark for purpose of comparison: At the start of Monday’s meeting, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the world’s rich nations to spend $72 billion a year to help Africa achieve U.N. goals to fight …

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