Do you ever feel like life is an endless re-run of Star Wars? Maybe not but news comes that Thailand has floated the idea of a rice cartel along the lines if OPEC.

Not surprisingly the Phillipines, the world’s biggest importer of rice, expressed strong reservations saying almost 3 billion people are rice eaters and calling it inhumane. Oh dear.

One can see his point. But the rise in agricultural commodities is giving producers a great opportunity to flex their muscles for a change and they may see it as one to grasp, especially if they happen to be major importers of oil.

This type of proposal will have many importers worried especially if those imports include oil and rice. We know the impact that the formation of OPEC had on the world economy and coming at at time of global financial instability, this proposal can only add to the uncertainty.

This is a big story. Wal-Mart has started to ration the amount of rice that people  can buy. Apparently this is the first time food rationing has happened in the US.

People don’t like the mention of the word “rationing”. It brings back dark memories, constructed or real’ of war economies and ration books. In our new world of credit on tap (or should I say old new world) we just have what we want when we want. The idea of not being able to do that is surely a restrction on our freedoms.

Well no it isn’t. The credit bubble that we’ve lived in post financial deregulation has lulled us in a false sense of entitlement and desire.  Hark back to the days where we had to save up for stuff or couldn’t actually buy things because we didn’t have the cash.

Those who have read my climate change paper will know it is based on establishing global quotas for fossil fuel production.  We have been living way beyond the ecosystems capacity to provide for us and the rise in food prices is a signal that we have a major problem.

This rationing which has been followed by Israel and no doubt other countries shortly.

Right then I’m off to the supermarket.