The timing on the E. coli outbreak in Europe is perfect: right on the heels of the "periphery" debt crises, you’ve got the same countries (Spain, etc.) squared off against the same "victims" (Germany foots the bailout bill disproportionally and now suffers disproportionally on this tainted food outbreak). Bottom line: you – Mr. Terrorist – have created tons of enmity, economic loss, and discombobulating fear. If I’m al Qaeda, I’m claiming this one on principle.
Thomas Barnett’s take on the ways in which food impacts our future security are disconcerting, interesting, scary, and in a warped way rather entertaining.
And then there’s this, from a commentary on the G8‘s recent meeting in Deauville:
[T]he world is now better able to feed itself. But the same economic stimuli that underpin higher food output also lead to supply problems, a decline in living standards, and massive social strains, especially in urban centers.
This is important to bear in mind, because rising food prices have historically been the trigger for political revolutions. The three revolutions that made the modern world, in France, Russia, and China, all had their immediate origins in food shortages, fear of hunger, and disputes about food pricing.
Luckily I know better than to quote ancient Chinese proverbs.
