Panic Hoarding
The New York Sun reports on a trend that is not at all pretty. In some areas of the country, rice, flour and cooking oil are in such short supply that retailers are limiting the amount people can purchase. This is happening right here in the United States.
The curbs and shortages are being tracked with concern by survivalists who view the phenomenon as a harbinger of more serious trouble to come.
“It’s sporadic. It’s not every store, but it’s becoming more commonplace,” the editor of SurvivalBlog.com, James Rawles, said. “The number of reports I’ve been getting from readers who have seen signs posted with limits has increased almost exponentially, I’d say in the last three to five weeks.”
Spiking food prices have led to riots in recent weeks in Haiti, Indonesia, and several African nations. India recently banned export of all but the highest quality rice, and Vietnam blocked the signing of a new contract for foreign rice sales.
“I’m surprised the Bush administration hasn’t slapped export controls on wheat,” Mr. Rawles said. “The Asian countries are here buying every kind of wheat.”
Mr. Rawles said it is hard to know how much of the shortages are due to lagging supply and how much is caused by consumers hedging against future price hikes or a total lack of product.
“There have been so many stories about worldwide shortages that it encourages people to stock up. What most people don’t realize is that supply chains have changed, so inventories are very short,” Mr. Rawles, a former Army intelligence officer, said. “Even if people increased their purchasing by 20%, all the store shelves would be wiped out.”
At the moment, large chain retailers seem more prone to shortages and limits than do smaller chains and mom-and-pop stores, perhaps because store managers at the larger companies have less discretion to increase prices locally.
What you have right now are the seeds of a panic being sown. This can be seen on a smaller scale when a bad winter storm is predicted and locals strip the store shelves of bread and milk. But when it is on a global scale, everything is suddenly in short supply as people begin to panic and hoard all they can afford to buy - making the situation even worse. Short supplies rapidly become no supplies. If the US does put on export controls, all hell is going to bust loose on world markets.
News, World news | Gaius Tuesday, 22 April , 2008
Other Links to this Post
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Don Singleton — Tuesday, 22 April , 2008 @ 5:11 am
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Slash and burn, SA's food policy « the spike — Tuesday, 22 April , 2008 @ 7:47 am
By Ted Goldman, Tuesday, 22 April , 2008 @ 10:42 am
We are headed for a "doozy of a recession". (Julian Robertson, formerly of the Tiger Fund)
If people do not believe that, then they probsbly accept the official government postion that inflation excludes "volitile" food and energy prices. That is, of course, garbage. Who can pont out when the so-called volitility went down in purchases of "food and fuel"? It is shocking how complacent Americans are acting.
Monetary supply has increaseds 15% in recent months, to bail out Wall Street and speculators. Only the responsible and hardworking savers will suffer. Americans are fools to think we will come out of this predicament without great financial pain, and continued lower living standards.
By sam, Tuesday, 22 April , 2008 @ 11:21 am
When they start rationing beer is when I will panic. Also, since I carry my food storage around my waist everywhere I go, I should outlast all those skinny vegans.
By rightwingprof, Tuesday, 22 April , 2008 @ 11:30 am
Retailers limit sales all the time. Coke on sale $0.99, limit 5.
By martian, Tuesday, 22 April , 2008 @ 2:10 pm
sam, you had better start with that panic. I saw a news report just last week that there is a developing shortage of hops (an essential ingredient for most beers) world wide. Prices are expected to rise steeply for hops. Do you think beer prices will be far behind?