Oil and food prices....

Speculation is rife in our modern world. Blame technology for fanning it. Yesterday, it seems drivers in many cities were fuming cos rumours were going round about petrol stations shutting their pumps for 3 days. Someone in KK called me to check whether there were queues at the petrol stations in Alor Star cos it seemed KK had come to a standstill at the petrol stations. Technology....boon and bane! Remember the financial crisis of the late 90s? In part speculation, fueled by greed and made possible by technology was to be blamed also.

Take a walk down the supermarket aisles. Prices of food is yo-yoing. Take the Sunkist Orange Juice..about 2 weeks back I was shocked to find that it had gone up to RM8.20 per pack. So, I told myself that I was not going to buy it. The following week, I was at Tesco and saw that the price was RM6++. And the shelf was almost empty! A couple of days later, it was RM5.95! And the shelves were also empty! That's how the prices of goods have been....fluctuating up and down, in the process creating jittery consumers! But it has made me a more discerning consumer now.

How can food suddenly become so scarce? I remember the US burning their excess wheat production some time ago. That caused so much indignance cos there were many countries facing food problems even back then. Now, we are constantly reminded of why there is a food shortage, etc, etc.

I can't help but wonder whether most of it is caused by speculation and greed in certain quarters out to make a quick buck. What is there to stop a company or those who are in control to increase prices so that they can make more? At the end of the day, we who are in the bottom of the food chain pay the most.

Still, we should do something. For me, I shall stop or reduce my purchase of food stuff with those mad prices. I think if all of us do that we will also be helping to lower the demand. Hopefully that will allow the basic principles of demand-supply to kick in and eventually bring us back to a more sane world.