For most of the day, MSNBC televised pictures from a part of the crime scene, Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, as Molotov cocktails from a bridge rained down upon anti-Mubarak protesters.I say part of the crime scene, because the full crime scene extends far beyond the Square, and Egypt, to embrace most of the world, including the United States.
The most perfect crime is one where no suspicion is raised, and the perpetrator escapes the long-arm of the law (now shorter, by design), and is never brought to justice.
We saw evidence of the crime months ago, August of last year to be exact, but little was done then to prevent further crimes from taking place, or to soften the blow to potential victims:
Wheat prices continue to rise as Russia has set a ban on the exports of the crop. Wheat hit a 23-month high of $8.25 and the price could go higher. It is not clear if yields from farms, particularly in Canada and the US, can make up the shortfall. The perception is that demand will outstrip supply this year. Wheat futures are up nearly 25% this week based on that assumption.
The question arises over how much the shortage is to blame for the run-up and how much comes from simple speculation. In mid-2008, crude futures rose from $80 to $140, and that was not solely the result in an imbalance between supply and demand. Oil prices may have been artificially inflated, but that did not keep gasoline prices from spiking and that undercut profits in fuel-dependent sectors like airlines. It also took gasoline prices to over $4 a gallon, which made life for average Americans even worse than the recession alone.
Crude prices moved back down as speculators took profits.
The price of wheat will cause at least temporary inflation in food prices including bread and cereals. Inflation in the US is low now, but so is the rate at which real wages are growing. Any cost burden put on consumers due to higher food prices is likely to cut purchases of other goods and services.
If you're the sleuth I think you are, you have already identified both the crime, and the perpetrators--Wall Street speculators. Wall Street not only created the economic meltdown we're experiencing here at home, but it contributed to the world-wide woes gripping other parts of the world.
If you take another step back, you'll see that capitalism--as it is currently run by unscrupulous corporatist practitioners, recently freed from the bars of restraint that once held them in check--is the overarching criminal:
As Nouriel Roubini who was among the first to predict the financial crisis while others were pooh-poohing him as “Dr Doom” says don’t just look at the crowds in Cairo but what is motivating them now, after years of silence and repression.
He says that the dramatic rise in energy and food prices has become a major global threat and a leading factor that has gone largely unreported in the coverage of events in Egypt.
"What has happened in Tunisia, is happening right now in Egypt, but also riots in Morocco, Algeria and Pakistan, are related not only to high unemployment rates and to income and wealth inequality, but also to this very sharp rise in food and commodity prices," Roubini said.
Prices in Egypt are up 17% because of a worldwide surge in commodity prices that has many factors but speculation on Wall Street and big banks is a key one.
Here's the big question: How long will it be before the excesses of our economic system, and this rapacious Wall Street criminal--the one we have locked up from time to time, and walled, where appropriate, with various laws and regulations--plunge us all into a Third World War?
