Any idea why pork was up so much? If swine flu or US ethanol policy is the culprit, there is less reason for Chinese monetary authorities to go nuts than if there was a sudden rise in demand for braised pigs knuckles. (Yum, by the way. I'm munching on chops in vinegrette and cherry glaze as I type.)
kharris, there's pressure on all food prices, partly due to rising incomes and partly due to the rise of ethanol. I don't know about China in particular, but I would guess that rising incomes are the main issue.
When corn prices, hundreds of millions of poor people suffer. China just cut back on the use of corn to make ethanol because this was a major factor in the pork price increase.
By the way, this post was excellent because China and the US are economically joined at the hip. The last 20 years of more and more goods from China at lower and lower real prices have been a huge blessing. Can it continue?
I believe it can. Yes, the overheated economy needs to be slowed and then another billion people need to be put to work. A blessing for them and for us.
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