High Grain Prices = Global Unrest

Posted by T.W. Hanson - Apr 7th, 2008 at 20:04

let them eat cake!You may have noticed headlines about spiking food commodity prices.  If you haven’t, it will soon become readily apparent in your grocery store.  To prepare for the coming price appreciation, I have given up my meat consumption.  But that is too much of an aside.  The higher grain prices are a function of many factors from bad weather in Australia to diminished grain reserves.  If you were a savvy or lucky vicenarian, you may have profited from the recent moves.  However, the world will not be so lucky.

Hunger, more broadly the scarcity of resources, has been the primary cause of most human conflicts.  Good luck convincing a soldier in Zimbabwe that he should jeopardize his government allowance in the name of the democratic process.

One of the other frightening developments in this recent grain price explosion is ethanol.  Other than it being one of the factors driving up prices and starving the world’s poor, it also is destroying the environment. 

Although I have resigned my efforts in converting the adult population into vegetarians to failure, I hope you see through the next politician who proclaims ethanol to be America’s savior.  I believe “Let them eat cake” didn’t go over so well the last time it was considered a talking point.

Sobering questions about the US dollar

Posted by Tad Johnson - Apr 4th, 2008 at 18:04

Watch this excerpt from a Danish documentary that asks the question, “what if the dollar collapsed?”



Leverage in a Global Economy

Posted by T.W. Hanson - Apr 2nd, 2008 at 20:04

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The New York Times devoted an entire section of today’s paper to living in a leveraged world.  The potential problems of this reality are small compared to global climate change, but they are much larger than the current U.S. housing crisis.

This is a must read for vicenarians interested in how money, markets and the global economy functions.

Leveraged Planet

Energy Savings : Fill the Freezer

Posted by Tad Johnson - Apr 2nd, 2008 at 18:04

Your refrigerator is probably the biggest electricity user in your kitchen. With energy costs going up, you don’t want it to work any harder than it has to. Fortunately, there are some very easy ways to keep it running efficiently :

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  1. Replace the ancient model. If you’ve had the same refrigerator for 20 years or more, it’s time for an upgrade. Newer models are so much more efficient that they pay for themselves in energy savings in just a few years.
  2. Keep it clean. There’s a reason your fridge has wheels–you need to clean behind it every month or two. Dust buildup prevents even heat transfer, making it work harder.
  3. Fill the freezer. You want your freezer about 90% full for optimal efficiency. If you keep lots of frozen foods on hand, great. If not, fill the extra space with something easy, like ice. I fill up my empty milk cartons with water and place them in the freezer. If I need the space, I’ll just empty a few and throw out the cartons.

Remember, saving energy not only saves you money, it benefits the globe. Don’t let your fridge be an energy hog!

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