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Global food prices soar in March, driven by Russia’s war in Ukraine

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Global food prices soar in March, driven by Russia’s war in Ukraine

Aid organizations say they're seeing signs that Russia's invasion of Ukraine is driving up global food prices and pushing millions of people into hunger.

A food price index tracked by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization shows that prices spiked 12% between February and March to its highest point since the index started in 1990.

Ukraine and Russia provide an outsized share of the world's supply of key foods including wheat, corn, barley and more.

The impact on people who were already struggling to afford food has been severe, aid groups say. In Afghanistan a month ago, 55% of people were at crisis levels of food insecurity. Now the number has risen to 65%.

NPR

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Somehow, the economy grew last year at the fastest pace since 1984 : NPR

Last year saw the fastest economic growth since Ronald Reagan was president. But for many people, 2021 felt less like "Morning in America" and more like a restless night, dogged by fitful dreams about the ongoing pandemic.

The Commerce Department reported Thursday that the nation's gross domestic product grew 5.7% last year — the biggest increase since 1984. But the growth arrived in fits and starts, with hopes for a steady recovery repeatedly dashed by successive waves of infection.

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What life was like in early-1980s America …

  • In October 1981, the average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage in America was 18.61 percent.
  • In August 1982, the average new car loan was 17.82 percent.

At 18.61 percent interest, a $100,000 loan paid over 15 years would involve paying $298,332 in principal and interest. Paid out over 30 years, that would be $461,679.21 in principal and interest. But that ignores inflation or refinancing, which makes those numbers seem less absurd.