7 Fat Years, then 7 Lean Years

Economist Isabella Weber, best known as one of the first people to point out the phenomenon of  "Greedflation" is now saying that significant caches of grain should stockpiled to account for anthropogenic climate change driven agricultural collapse.

If this sounds familiar, that's because it sounds like Joseph's interpretations of Pharaoh's dreams in the bible:

Isabella Weber, the economist who ignited controversy with a bold proposal to implement strategic price controls at the peak of inflation and identified corporate profits as a driver of high prices, has proposed a new measure that could prevent food shortages and price gouging in the wake of another disruption of the global supply chains.

Weber’s new paper, published on Thursday, looks at how grain prices spiked in 2022 as Covid snagged supply chains and Russia invaded Ukraine. The price hikes helped to drive record profits for corporations while pushing inflation higher and increasing global hunger. In the paper, Weber and colleagues call for the creation of buffer stocks of grain that could be released during shortages or emergencies to ease price pressures.

Such a system would quell the volatility that is a hallmark of the grain market and keep food prices down, said Weber, the paper’s lead author and an associate professor at the University of Massachusetts.

My alma mater, but whatever.

………

Weber’s previous work on inflation went viral after the Guardian published her opinion piece. Her views were pilloried by some leading economists and rightwing media but have since gained support from policymakers and other economists.

A new entity proposed by Weber and her co-author, Merle Schulken, would work similarly to how the Biden administration has wielded the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to try to limit price spikes and collapses in the oil market. When demand for oil is strong and prices climb, the government can use its oil reserves to help bring prices down. When demand is weak and prices fall so low that pumping more oil becomes unprofitable, the government buys and stores barrels in its reserve.

In effect, a grain reserve could set a ceiling on prices to protect consumers, while establishing a floor to shield farmers when grain prices collapse.

Though the concept could work for most commodities, Weber focused on grains because they are easy to store and their prices affect other foods, like meat.

Her mouth to God's ear, I guess, or maybe it's the other way around.