The Egyptian Tinderbox: How Banks and Investors Are Starving the Third World

Ellen Hodgson Brown J.D. | Thursday 03 February 2011

"What for a poor man is a crust, for a rich man is a securitized asset class." -Futures trader Ann Berg, quoted in The Guardian UK.

Underlying the sudden, volatile uprising in Egypt and Tunisia is a growing global crisis sparked by soaring food prices and unemployment. The Associated Press reports that roughly 40 percent of Egyptians struggle along at the World Bank-set poverty level of under $2 per day. Analysts estimate that food price inflation in Egypt is currently at an unsustainable 17 percent yearly. In poorer countries, as much as 60 to 80 percent of people's incomes go for food, compared to just 10 to 20 percent in industrial countries. An increase of a dollar or so in the cost of a gallon of milk or a loaf of bread for Americans can mean starvation for people in Egypt and other poor countries.