Off the Wall Question

To what degree (if any) is quantitative easing responsible for the wave of food and freedom riots spreading across the world?

9 comments… add one
  • john personna Link

    Economics is not good enough to answer this question.

    There are too many other moving parts.

  • john personna Link

    (I can say “some” and be reasonably confident 😉

  • The only mechanism I can see is via inflation and prices for food. However, I find that rather dodgy and it only explains half of it (food riots).

    Frankly, I’m a bit surprised that nobody from the former Bush Administration has come forward and claimed some credit. “See they look at Iraq and realize they can be self-governing and look protests across MENA crying for freedom!” Yeah, I know totally thin, but that’s politics take credit for something even if you weren’t responsible and the outcome is perceived as good.

  • Heh

    The displeasure over the Hosni Mubarak government has been linked to the rising price of wheat, and that in turn has been linked to our money printing in general and to Ben Bernanke’s August warning of QE2.

  • PD Shaw Link

    Egypt (once bread basket of the Mediterranean) gets half it’s wheat from Russia, which announced a wheat export ban in August. That would appear to be the immediate cause. The more generalized cause is the government’s organization of the economy is revealed as incompetent by such episodes.

  • steve Link

    Russia had a severe heat wave affecting wheat production. China also had a drought and had to increase imports.

    http://topics.scmp.com/news/china-business-watch/article/Drought-could-see-wheat-imports-double

    “Frankly, I’m a bit surprised that nobody from the former Bush Administration has come forward and claimed some credit. ”

    They have. I think you can make a better case for al Qaeda than Bush.

    Steve

  • michael reynolds Link

    Steve Verdon:

    I don’t want to shock you here, but I think George W. Bush does deserve a dose of credit. I wish we hadn’t gone into that war under false pretenses, and I wish we hadn’t mismanaged the occupation, but the part that was about replacing tyrants I quite liked.

    I also give Obama credit for his Cairo outreach which was heinously misrepresented by Republicans.

    The other 90% of the credit goes to various others and various circumstances. But we get credit for an assist.

  • Icepick Link

    Frankly, I’m a bit surprised that nobody from the former Bush Administration has come forward and claimed some credit. “See they look at Iraq and realize they can be self-governing and look protests across MENA crying for freedom!” Yeah, I know totally thin, but that’s politics take credit for something even if you weren’t responsible and the outcome is perceived as good.

    Well, they’ve had at least one day of rage in Iraq too. So given that they’ve had some (relatively) free elections, what does that tell us?

    Plus, there’s been rioting in Greece, England, France. Are those about food or freedom? I heard there were protests in India as well, but I’m not sure I believe that and am too lazy to look for the stories.

    Incidentally, I saw a sign on an abandonded gas station today. It said

    Pro
    Test?

    “Pro test” was over two lines with one giant question mark besdie both lines. No idea what to make of it.

  • Icepick Link

    Oh, to answer the actual question posed in the post: I don’t think QEII has had much effect on these riots. As mentioned above, food prices are going up primarily because of non-financial reasons, at least in the short-term. And I doubt the protests have anything to do with FED policy otherwise.

Leave a Comment