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| Africa North |
| The worst thing that could happen to Egypt |
| 2012-07-22 |
| h/t Gates of Vienna The price of wheat on the active futures contract shot up to $943 a bushel from only $625 a bushel just a month ago, due to the drought in the US Midwest and other factors. That is a further blow to stability in Egypt, the world's largest wheat importer, dependent on foreign sources for half its caloric consumption. Egypt now imports 800,000 metric tons of wheat a year. The government is considering doubling the price of bread I'm beginning to understand why the Army allowed MB take the rule. |
| Posted by:g(r)omgoru |
| #19 Absent ridiculous levels of corruption and incompetence Egyptians should be able to pay less than me they import a lot - that adds shipping, graft as you noted, waste. More expensive. |
| Posted by: Frank G 2012-07-22 18:45 |
| #18 It can't be that bad. I just bought 15# of rice for about 40 cents a pound. In America at retail and delivered to a store, and during the worst drought in the history of Arkansas, which is where much U.S. rice is grown. Add some beans, and or meat and there you have a full day's food supply for a person for much less than a dollar. Absent ridiculous levels of corruption and incompetence Egyptians should be able to pay less than me. And if there are ridiculous levels of corruption and incompetence, then Egyptians should be expected to riot about that. |
| Posted by: rammer 2012-07-22 17:36 |
| #17 Old Dilbert quote - if people are starving in Egypt, they should move to France! They tried that once, not including the numerous raids along the southern Mediterranean coast. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2012-07-22 13:58 |
| #16 The patented seed corn is GMO, and inedible, labeled as "Not for Human Consumption" but it produces huge yields and takes farm ground out of food production. You can't just divert usage from ethanol to food. |
| Posted by: OmuluqueHapsburg5085 2012-07-22 13:14 |
| #15 My kid said that California should drop the bullet train and use the money to buy the pyramids. Stick them in the Delta and attract tourists. Salafists don't want them we should take them. You better act quick... last I heard Zawi Hawass was leaving the country, and taking his pyramids with him. |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2012-07-22 13:00 |
| #14 Old Dilbert quote - if people are starving in Egypt, they should move to France! |
| Posted by: Raj 2012-07-22 12:53 |
| #13 All this is OK, we will continue to use food (corn) to dilute gasoline. /s |
| Posted by: tipover 2012-07-22 11:58 |
| #12 My kid said that California should drop the bullet train and use the money to buy the pyramids. Stick them in the Delta and attract tourists. Salafists don't want them we should take them. |
| Posted by: DoDo 2012-07-22 11:32 |
| #11 corn and soy coming next. |
| Posted by: tipper 2012-07-22 11:23 |
| #10 The problem goes far beyond just Egypt. If the price of bread and basic grains were to double, there could be widespread riots across many countries in Africa and the third world. Heck, even Mexico would be hard hit by a change like that. You get that sneaking suspicion that a lot of countries that are stable, but just borderline stable, could really topple over - and become failed states. |
| Posted by: Raider 2012-07-22 10:40 |
| #9 So to distract the hungry people the government will have to destroy the pyramids and/or attack Israel. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2012-07-22 10:16 |
| #8 Allan Snackbar's not open |
| Posted by: Frank G 2012-07-22 10:01 |
| #7 Gee, and both my giveadamns are at the cleaners.... |
| Posted by: Barbara 2012-07-22 09:42 |
| #6 Egypt has missed debt payments. The Saudis loaned a bill to them. losing a pipeline every month can't help |
| Posted by: newc 2012-07-22 08:58 |
| #5 They just found gas off Egypt's coast, but it will take a while to get it out of the ground. In the meantime... |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2012-07-22 08:12 |
| #4 And fracking will break the Arab oil financial basis. Looks very bad for them. Isn't fracking's break-even point $60 per barrel? |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2012-07-22 07:42 |
| #3 Egypt is broke. Many thousands had worked in Libya under Qaddafi. With that gone they are hurting for certain. Pipeline keeps getting blown up also. This was a Western oriented country but no more. Back to the days of Nasser most likely. |
| Posted by: Dale 2012-07-22 07:05 |
| #2 And fracking will break the Arab oil financial basis. Looks very bad for them. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2012-07-22 06:40 |
| #1 Left out 2 decimal places. $9.43 |
| Posted by: Water Modem 2012-07-22 06:29 |