Apparently wheat prices have started to drop, although are still relatively high. Rice is still high, but we might start to see some relief in bread oriented parts of the world and some substitution elsewhere.
On the same topic, Tyler Cowen and Dani Rodrik disagree on many things but do agree that import protections in an attempt to build agricultural self-sufficiency is not the way to avoid this sort of problem. They may lead to more domestic production, but prices would be higher and there’d be less production in places where its more efficient. If the food crisis were driven by a breakdown in the transportation system, then I think you’d have an argument for self-sufficiency, but that doesn’t seem that likely of a problem.
They disagree on how to treat ideas like export taxes, that let countries keep their domestic food prices lower but adversely affect world supply, but that’s a topic I should discuss when I’m more with it.
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