It seems like the economy in China is not that good either

[the_tyrant]

China’s inflation has hit its highest level in almost three years, despite government efforts to cool the economy, driven by the rising prices of food and other household basics.
May’s consumer price index (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/economy-lab/daily-mix/china-curbs-lending-as-inflation-hits-55/article2059724/#) reached 5.5 per cent, its highest level since August 2008, slightly above analysts’ forecasts of 5.4 per cent and well above a national target of 4 per cent this year.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/economy-lab/daily-mix/china-curbs-lending-as-inflation-hits-55/article2059724/

China faces a “meaningful probability” of a hard economic landing and the euro zone is storing up problems for the future by not tackling the debt crisis head on, said Nouriel Roubini, the economist who predicted the global financial crisis (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-news/asian-pacific/roubini-sees-hard-landing-for-china/article2058147/#).
He said U.S. Treasury prices, which have risen sharply as investors sought a safe haven from the euro area debt crisis and worries about a slowdown in the global economy, were fairly valued although he was cautious about U.S. equities.
New York-based Mr. Roubini is closely followed by Wall Street because he predicted the U.S. housing meltdown that precipitated the global downturn.
China avoided a hard landing during the global credit crunch but faces a downturn after 2013 as it will struggle to keep increasing fixed investments, Mr. Roubini said.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-news/asian-pacific/roubini-sees-hard-landing-for-china/article2058147/

my dad just got back from China, he says the inflation and prices are crazy
15 rmb for an apple(almost $2)! and thats just regular apples, not organic or imported.

[Castout]

Food rising prices is a global occurrence.


It will keep on rising and a few of those food commodities may probably reach ridiculous level not yet seen, at least in the near future for a brief time. But the trend is that they'll keep increasing in the long run.

As global population grows and climate change ruins many farmers' crop, rising food prices is really inevitable. I can't imagine food prices in the next 20 years. The meals that we now take for granted or think as ordinary may become fancy or rather too fancy. This will affect almost everybody but the rich or very rich(our dishes will change). We're overfishing the world's ocean as well to a very alarming level. The world may be heading to global starvation or severe food crisis in the long run. So leaders in the related field better use their resources to prevent this. The edge we have over beasts is that we can analyze. If we do nothing then we deserve what's coming.

Another thing is that in highly prosperous countries where the average people earn more than decent amount of money then commodity prices will be high or noticeably higher. The reasoning is now much more people are demanding supply that can't keep up with the growing demand. Housing will be very very costly as well as food to entertainment products. Example of this are Japan and probably Australia which enjoy unprecedented long run prosperity growth.

This may be what driving food prices in China as well exacerbating reduced crops problem. More people are now seeking to buy what was once thought to be fancy food and hence driving food prices upwards.

[Oberon]

Yes, most people seem to think that China is an unstoppable economic superpower, but it has a very fragile economy and a big inflation problem.