Thursday, April 21, 2011

Ya Say Ya Want a Revolution: "Let them eat wheat price inflation"

From FT Alphaville:
An interesting, vaguely Easter-themed chart by Barings Asset Management, via Paul Mason’s Idle Scrawl blog:



It shows the changes in wheat prices in the years before both the 1848 Spring of Nations and this year’s Arab Spring. The fit for events in 1848 is tighter than for those in 2011 but we may not be finished yet of course — looking at you, Jordan....MORE

I didn't make a chart but here are the numbers for 1789:
(9 to 14 sous is a 55% move)

BREAD AND THE WAGE EARNERS BUDGET*
 Occupation
 Effective Daily Wage in Sous** Expenditure on Bread as percentage of income with bread priced at:
 9s (Aug 1788)
 14s (Feb-July 1789)
 Laborer in Reveillon wallpaper works
 15
 60
 93
 Builders Laborer
 18
 50
 78
 Journeyman mason
 24
 37
 58
 Journeyman, locksmith, carpenter, etc.
 30
 30
 48
 Sculptor, goldsmith
 60
 15
 24
*The price of the 4 pound loaf consumed daily by workingman and his family as the main element in their diet
**Effective wage represents the daily wage adjusted for 121 days of nonwork per calendar year for religious observation, etc.

Average Price of a Hectoliter (100 liters) of wheat in France
 1730 9.5 francs
1750  14.5 francs
 1770  19.8 francs
 1789 21.0 francs

Price of 100 kilograms of Wheat in Paris, 1770-1790
1770 25 francs
1775 20 francs
1780 17 francs
1785 19 francs
1789 29 francs
1790 27 francs

And commentary from one who should know:

marie-antoinette.jpg (32532 bytes)
"No worries"