Society

Enrolled members should have received this report on Sunday via e-mail.  If you did not, please contact us so we can make sure that you don’t miss future reports. 

If you are a registered user (not yet enrolled), this report is well worth upgrading for. 

There’s a new Martenson Report ready for enrolled members.  It can be accessed by clicking the title below, or going to the Martenson Report page.  As always, it has already been sent as a newsletter so you should also find it in your inbox.

Here’s a snippet:

Food Outlook 2009 – Understanding the Risks

Executive Summary

• Global grain stocks at lowest levels in over four decades
• Shockingly low fertilizer sales suggest possibility of a disappointing yield
• Food supply and demand are tightly balanced
• Food distribution networks are cost-efficient but not terribly robust
• Ways you can increase your food security

Introduction

Food is something that many of us take for granted, but it is important to recognize that this luxury is a recent development in human history. It is time to give more thought to this critical staple in our lives.

In March of 2008, food commodity prices hit an all-time high. This coincided with a world-wide food crisis, food riots, and even a few instances of national rice hoarding. Many believe that this was triggered by economic conditions (e.g. a flood of cheap money), not a fundamental or structural shortfall in food production. But I hold the view that both were at fault.

Food demand has grown steadily over the years, as has food supply. However, in recent years the excess margin of supply over demand has tightened and even gone negative several times. Reserve stocks are incredibly tight, resting at levels not seen since the early 1970’s. 

It is easily conceivable that food deliveries could be disrupted within any country, leading to rapid onset of local food shortages. This report will apprise you of several of the challenges that currently exist regarding world food supplies and the possibility that these challenges could lead to a structural shortfall in global food supplies in 2009 or 2010. It also contains specific actions that could greatly enhance your own food security.

Link to It Has Hit The Fan

A snippet:

In times like these, I take a few steps back and try to look at the whole picture. The details are numerous; they are often contradictory and confusing. For clarity’s sake, it can be helpful to keep the macro view in focus, instead of the details. Here are the big-picture items that I keep firmly in mind each day:

• This is a crisis of too much debt, not too little spending.
• This is a global crisis. Clues for directionality are best found by viewing the entire world situation. That data still points downwards.
• The energy situation is getting worse, not better, due to a lack of critical and focused investment and the passage of wasted time.
• It’s not possible for an insolvent nation to borrow money from an insolvent financial system to bail out insolvent financial, real estate, and insurance companies.