Sunday, April 27

Rationed Rice - Back to the "tsena"?

Just heard it on the news, rice is being rationed in some of the super market chains in Israel, due to the higher global energy prices.
But as the dollar exchanger ate vis a vis the NIS has gone down, for Israeli transporters the fuel price has not REALLY gone down, so something doesn't add up.
How much of this is "real" and how much is it hysteria and perhaps a cynical manipulation by the supermarket chains? After all, they bought that rice for the old prices ages ago.
Yesterday i read the main buyers in the US of cheap rice are restaurants and they made a run on some supermarkets because they didn't appreciate having to pay a little more prior to a price hike. However they created a chain reaction: the perceived shortage became a real one when more people made a run being scared of there being no rice. Stores ran out, stated they would ration and thus even more people made the run.
Yes, rice will become more expensive and that is no joke, as it is a basic staple. But the run and the rationing? Right now?
What is the real dynamic behind it? Globalism? Differential use of resources such as land? Control over markets and stocks to create artificial shortages in order to get a better price?


3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Luckily Israel has a thriving agricultural sector,so people will eat potatoes instead of rice.No big deal

Akiva

Anonymous said...

Kind of reminds me of the royal "Let them eat cake".
Maybe it's just my association...

Lirun said...

we have a severe drought right now.. this always has the affect of price increses on staples and typically places inflationary pressures on the economy.. something that bites the poor first..

i dont know that potatoes will offer anyone much comfort unless we see some serious rain soon..

whoops.. i forgot.. we're approaching summer..

oh well.. tough luck poor people.. sorry.. cake it is..