from Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies

Food Price Inflation

Explanation and Policy Implications

July 7, 2008

Download PDF
Report

More on:

Food and Water Security

Agricultural Policy

Overview

Increases in the prices for major food crops that are traded globally have reached extraordinary levels, sparking riots in some countries and becoming the focus of widespread debate and policy concern. At the June 2008 summit meeting of the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization in Rome, officials from around the world engaged in discussions of who or what is to blame.

Karen H. Johnson

In this Center for Geoeconomic Studies Working Paper, Karen H. Johnson explains the causes and likely future course of food-price inflation, and analyzes the implications for central banks, trade negotiators, and agricultural policy.

More on:

Food and Water Security

Agricultural Policy

Explore More on Food and Water Security

United States

How U.S. Water Infrastructure Works
The sprawling U.S. water system is central to the nation’s economy, but chronic underinvestment, increasing demand, and the consequences of climate change have revealed the system’s weaknesses.  

Backgrounder by James McBride and Noah Berman March 31, 2023 Renewing America

COVID-19

Limiting the COVID-19 Food Crisis in Africa Begins With Local Farmers

Blog Post by Guest Blogger for John Campbell May 21, 2020 Africa in Transition

Malawi

Averting a COVID-19 Disaster in Malawi and Building Back Better

Blog Post by Guest Blogger for John Campbell May 15, 2020 Africa in Transition

Top Stories on CFR

China

China’s Underground Historians, With Ian Johnson

Podcast
Ian Johnson, the Stephen A. Schwarzman senior fellow for China studies at CFR, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss how Chinese filmmakers, journalists, and artists are challenging the Chinese Communist Party’s version of history. 

Podcast with James M. Lindsay and Ian Johnson September 26, 2023 The President’s Inbox

Climate Change

Could Climate Change Break Home Insurance?

Podcast
For decades, U.S. homeowners have counted on property insurance to protect them from catastrophic loss if their homes are destroyed—and the U.S. economy has rested on the functionality of that model. But as this summer’s extreme weather broke records, private companies reduced their coverage. As climate disasters become more frequent, can home insurance hold up?

Podcast with Gabrielle Sierra, Nancy Watkins and David Marlett September 27, 2023 Why It Matters

Ukraine

What Ukraine Needs to Win the War Against Russia
If Western allies fail to send Ukraine the weapons it needs, the odds increase of the war dragging on indefinitely, at a terrible cost to both Ukraine and Russia and a growing risk to the wider world.

In Brief by Max Boot September 27, 2023