Agricultural economics come to bear on tobacco prices

摘要

In the past five years, prices for agricultural commodities have increased considerably, spurred by growing demand from Asian countries, particularly China and India. At the same time, prices for natural resources, especially oil, have also climbed in response to a growing demand for cars and industrial development. Still, the last few months bore witness to a marked acceleration of these price hikes. The subsidisation of bioethanol in the US and European Union is one conjunctural factor known to be responsible for these increases as food crops are turned into fuel crops. Alone in the US, more than 150 factories have been set up to produce bioethanol and the active encouragement by governments to produce bio-fuels has attracted wide criticism from numerous organisations, including the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. A UN expert termed this shift from food to fuel "a crime against humanity," creating food shortages and sending food prices soaring. The World Bank has even suggested that the targets set for the production of biofuels should be lowered.