We give Robert Zoellick 4 to 6 weeks before he follows Axel Weber, Kevin Warsh and the COO of one of the bankrupt GSEs (we forget his name) into the sunset. The reason? After breaking ranks with the Criminal Bank Cartel last year and calling for a return to the gold standard, the president of the World Bank has dared to be the first among the institutional elite to point out that the cotton in the emperor’s clothes, were he to be clothed in the first place, would have surged by 100% in less than a year.
According to AP: “World Bank President Robert Zoellick says global food prices have hit “dangerous levels” that could contribute to political instability, push millions of people into poverty and raise the cost of groceries.”
Not to worry. According to Fed VP Christine Cumming who spoke earlier somewhere, rising commodity costs merely indicate “stronger global demand.” Oddly enough, it is this supposed demand for products that has forced 44 million people to enter “extreme poverty”… out of their own volition. We are not sure, but something tells us the Fed’s Cumming has a Ph.D.
The bank says in a new report that global food prices have jumped 29 percent in the past year, and are just 3 percent below the all-time peak hit in 2008. Zoellick says the rising prices have hit people hardest in the developing world because they spend as much as half their income on food.
The World Bank estimates higher prices for corn, wheat and oil have pushed 44 million people into extreme poverty since last June.
Zoellick said he expects food prices to continue to rise, and that export bans and weather disruptions are partly to blame.
Full report (PDF):
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/15/2011 13:21 -0500
Source: ZeroHedge