New Video Shows How Wall Street Gamblers Contributed to 2008 Food Crisis

Our friends at Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns launched a new Web video that explains how Wall Street fat cats helped propel the 2008 food crisis. The food crisis is related to the economic meltdown , both were driven by rampant speculation on obscure financial products (like the derivatives that brought down insurance giant AIG).

The snappy video (http://stopgamblingonhunger.com/) tells the whole complex story very simply. In short, the Enron-promoted deregulation turned the commodities markets into no-limit casinos that ultimately pumped hundreds upon hundreds of billions of dollars into corn, wheat and gasoline. The flood of new investments , on top of the normal demand for food and energy , created a superheated investment price bubble (like the dot-com and housing bubbles) for food and energy that just kept expanding during early 2008. The world export prices of corn, rice and wheat tripled in a few years, in part because of the supercharged speculation on the commodities markets.The exploding food prices made 130 million more people malnourished according to the United Nations.

Now, Congress is wrestling with reforming the commodities and derivatives markets, but the Gucci-clad Wall Street lobbyists are trying to avoid real reform so they can stick to business as usual. Food & Water Watch has joined other consumer, labor, faith and farm groups to make sure that Congress enacts strong, sensible safeguards that will protect consumers worldwide from being at the mercy of Wall Street investors gambling on hunger.

Take action now to make sure that Congress protects Main Street and your street from Wall Street.

– Patrick Woodall
Research Director