What Are Global Perspectives on Commodity Price Spikes?

The Diane Rehm Show brought together four experts on world economies and agriculture to address the current commodity prices and their impact on food, fuel, and fiber.

Around the world, prices for food and other basic commodities are going up. The price of food has climbed by almost 30% in the past twelve months. Cotton is near a ten year high, and copper is the highest it’s been in forty years. Some say the price hikes are a sign of global economic recovery, but for the world’s poor, the increases can be devastating.

Panel experts include Bob Zoellick president, The World Bank & former Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of State; David Orden senior research fellow,International Food Policy Research Institute and professor, Virginia Tech Institute for Society, Culture and Environment; Zanny Minton Beddoes economics editor, "The Economist;" formerly, economist at the International Monetary Fund; David Leonhardt columnist, New York Times