Thursday, January 21, 2010

Food price inflation - Why is the Government helpless?


Food prices have become a major talking point for the media and the opposition parties have also just woken up to defend the aam aadmi. The Government has unveiled some short term measures to curb prices and it remains to be seen if these will be effective. The problem however is not short term in nature. A timeline of food prices of common food items shows that the rapid food price inflation dates back 2 years and even more in the case of certain items.
Several questions arise. Why have prices risen? Are farmers benefiting from the rise? And why is the government so helpless in curbing the rise?

This article in India Together attempts to find answers to these questions.

Comming a month later this article in the Hindu Business Line by C P Chandrasekhar  and Jayati Ghosh of JNU carries a similar analysis.

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