» U.S. Markets Weekly – May 9- May 13, 2011 Decision Economics

U.S. Markets Weekly – May 9- May 13, 2011

Posted May 13, 2011 by CLeahey

[private][private]Markets and the press have tended to pay more attention to recent spikes in crude oil prices than to the recent spike in agricultural prices. This may seem odd since crude oil prices are up 31% from a year ago, while agricultural commodity prices are up 42%. What’s more, households spend roughly 12% of their budgets on food (groceries and restaurants), but only 3-4% on gasoline. Nevertheless, the extra attention paid to oil prices may be warranted and there are reasons to think that oil price spikes are a bigger problem for the economy.
DE-USMW-5-13-11

[/private][/private]