Food and energy prices in 1960-2005

Kym Anderson writes about agricultural policy: "... it is not only high-income countries that are resisting committing to further reform, as many developing countries also want to retain their capacity to raise trade restrictions when prices spike. More than that, developing countries are seeking a Special Safeguard Mechanism that would allow them to set tariffs even higher than their ceiling bindings should food prices collapse or imports surge. This would only add to the volatility of international markets for agricultural products, as each country’s actions spill over to other countries and related products."


There is an interesting figure that shows energy prices are unusually high and food prices are unusually low right now: