Some homes worth less than their copper pipesIt may sound like leftist drivel, but the reason commodities are rising is (in part) 'cause oil is so expensive. Take corn. Some people are trying to use corn-based ethanol since oil is $100+ bucks a barrel, and that creates more demand which results in more expensive corn. Also, most fertilizers used today are oil based, which keeps raising oil demand and therefore oil and corn prices.
Rising metal prices have rendered some foreclosed homes worth less than their plumbing, and theives are stripping the vacant abodes of copper, aluminum, and brass to fuel a lucrative overseas trade.
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN2527885420080401
It's a sick little loop, inflation. I had an Econ teacher who used to explain it by tellling us about the time the lady who sold "semillitas" at the stoplight raised her rates since sugar was up. He told her semillitas didn't have sugar in them, to which she replied, "Ah, but I use sugar in my coffee".
Invading Iraq has not lowered oil prices as anyone can see. And invading Iran is not the answer either. Thank God Bush is on his way out, but I'm not too sure about McC at this point. It's possible that if he turns out to be a manifest destiny freak, the current geopolitic tension and iraqui insurgents blowing up oil pipelines will seem like the good old days.
So, everything is related and the butterfly effect is real. My primary obsession, as most of you know, is getting all the (right) facts and reading them correctly in order to see the Big Picture. I'm reading the Black Swan right now and Taleb sort of goes against that. Although maybe I need to finish it first. Anyway, I ran accross this random piece of news and wanted to share.
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