What are the major causes of rising food and oil prices?

Question

What are the major causes of rising food and oil prices?

Answer 1

The rising biofuels production is the root cause of major food and oil prices and supply shortages. The land is being heavily used to produce these alternate fuels hence no crops are being used.

Answer 2

inflation ...limited resources and unlimited demand

Answer 3

Capitalism and market speculation.

Answer 4

Its simply down to supply and demand, as with any commodity as demand goes up and supply remains the same, the value and price rises.

The main issue is not the amount of oil remaining in the ground, it is the lack of refining capacity to turn the oil pumped into the products we use, including petrol and diesel.

There has been a serve lack of investment in refining capacity, as it is so costly, no-one wants a new refinery in their back yard, and also as the people who will build refineries are the oil companies, and as they are a major benificary of the rising oil price due to lack of capacity there is no incentive for them to develp additional capacity.

What is required is for governments to take the initative to develop new refining capacity, but again as they benefit from rising oil prices due to lact of capacity in rising receipts from taxation, they are unlikely to intervine.

Its catch 22, the only users are businesses, the consumer and in the end the economy.

Write to your MP and he will ignore you at his leisure.

Answer 5

speculation by the people who stand to make most money out of them - market traders.