The FAO Food Price Index (FFPI) averaged 107.5 points in December 2020, up 2.3 points (2.2 percent) from November, marking the seventh month of consecutive increase.
You’ve read about housing market bubbles, stock bubbles, and even credit bubbles. But the next bubble you’re about to discover could be even more dangerous, and may have even more far-reaching consequences.
It’s called a food price bubble, and it’s been inflating under our noses since March 2020. You can also see the dangerous trajectory it’s on compared to three previous years in the FAO chart.
The official January 7, 2021 release from the Food and Agriculture Organization explains the chart above in more detail.
And according to a Business Insider piece, grain has risen in price 50% over the last six months while other commodities like industrial metals are starting to drop in price.
In fact, according to an official source, food price inflation has risen each month by at least 3.5% (year over year) since April 2020 both at home and away from home.
And December didn’t show any signs of that trend letting up, with a price increase of 3.9% over December 2019. Keep in mind, we’re talking about food here. Technically this price surge isn’t a bubble ‑ it’s inflation.
This is exactly what we expect to see when the Fed’s loose-money policies support bubbles in the housing, stock and credit markets. An excess of currency chasing a fixed supply of paper assets inflates prices, which isn’t a big problem as long as the feeding frenzy stays contained in the paper asset markets. So long as amateur day-traders stick to playing stock-market roulette with the likes of Tesla and GameStop, the day-to-day world can go about business as usual.
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