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.

Another sign that the US has entered a recession?According to a survey released today, US consumer confidence is the lowest it’s been in over a quarter of a century.

This month the Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers has fallen to the lowest since March 1982’s level of 62.0.

According to Reuters, this is “when the ’stagflationary’ period of low growth and high inflation was still fresh in the memory of many Americans.”

Entering a dangerous and troublesome period in financial history…the battle between the forces of inflation and deflation wages on… The Liquidation War…the coming of the Greater Depression…Cattle is no longer such a hot commodity in Argentina…what will hobble agriculture in the future?…and more!