{"id":62306,"date":"2022-03-28T08:42:33","date_gmt":"2022-03-28T13:42:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=62306"},"modified":"2022-03-28T08:42:33","modified_gmt":"2022-03-28T13:42:33","slug":"a-world-thats-more-expensive-is-starting-to-destroy-demand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=62306","title":{"rendered":"A World That\u2019s More Expensive Is Starting to Destroy Demand"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

A World That\u2019s More Expensive Is Starting to Destroy Demand<\/a><\/h3>\n
\n

Buyers are balking at high prices for fuel, food and metals, threatening to tip\u00a0economies\u00a0back into recession.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\"The<\/div>\n<\/div>
The Central de Abastos Market in Mexico City.<\/p>\n

Photographer: Alejandro Cegarra\/Bloomberg<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/address>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

Prices for some of the world\u2019s most pivotal products \u2013 foods, fuels, plastics, metals \u2013 are spiking beyond what many buyers can afford. That\u2019s forcing consumers to cut back and, if the trend grows, may tip economies already buffeted by pandemic and war back into recession.<\/p>\n

The phenomenon is happening in ways large and small. Soaring natural gas prices in China force ceramic factories burning the fuel to halve their operations. A Missouri trucking company debates suspending operations because it can\u2019t fully recoup rising diesel costs from customers. European steel mills using electric arc furnaces\u00a0scale back production<\/a> as power costs soar, making the metal even more expensive.<\/p>\n

Global food prices set a\u00a0record<\/a> last month, according to the United Nations, as Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine disrupted shipments from the countries that, together, supply one-quarter of the world\u2019s grain and much of its cooking oil. More-expensive food may be frustrating to the middle class, but it\u2019s devastating to communities trying to claw their way out of poverty. For some, \u201cdemand destruction\u201d will be a bloodless way to say \u201chunger.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n