Agricultural commodities won’t drop back to pre-crisis levels for at least ten years, according to a report by the OECD and the UN. This from the Financial Times:

Food prices have undergone a paradigm shift and will not drop back to pre-crisis levels for at least the next 10 years, putting long-term pressure on governments facing the food crisis, according to a forthcoming report.

Everyone is perfectly happy to let capitalism do its stuff – as long as they like the results. But cometh a correction and all of a sudden the press is full of whining pundits and meddling politicians.

Deere’s Bountiful Harvest; Dupont Teams Up with Danisco; Miller Takes Over Grolsch Distribution; China Quake May Pause Interest Rate Hike; Aluminum Corp. of China May Nab BHP Stake; Whole Food Drops on Disappointing Sales Gain; Food Costs Sink Jack in the Box; Freddie Mac Gets Creative with the Books.

The yuan-dollar peg has gone a long way in ensuring constancy. Chinese economic growth – we would argue, all economic growth – ensues under the auspice of a stable currency. But ties to the greenback have recently come with a price.

China: bigger, faster, stronger…the world’s up-and-comer does have some trouble on the way. More and more people competing for the world’s resources. The Chinese work their way up the ladder, as Americans work their way down…and more!

Two years ago, making money was simple…You just grabbed a newspaper, closed your eyes, and randomly pointed to a commodity… any commodity.

Well, there was a little more activity in the precious metals yesterday, but gold and silver really didn’t get started until after the London traders went to work.

Lost in the meaningless bickering among the presidential candidates over suspending the federal gasoline tax is some genuine news…

Globally, corn supplies are already straining to meet demand. America is the world’s king of corn. If our crop is going to be light, that puts corn on the launch pad.

It’s not just the credit crisis that has been keeping policymakers awake at night. A food crisis is sweeping the world like “a silent tsunami”, as Josette Sheeran of the World Food programme puts it, leaving widespread riots and rattled governments in its wake.