We'll make a killing out of food crisis, Glencore trading boss Chris Mahoney boasts

Proof positive that you don't need brains to trade.
From The Independent:

Drought is good for business, says world's largest commodities trading company
 
The United Nations, aid agencies and the British Government have lined up to attack the world's largest commodities trading company, Glencore, after it described the current global food crisis and soaring world prices as a "good" business opportunity.


With the US experiencing a rerun of the drought "Dust Bowl" days of the 1930s and Russia suffering a similar food crisis that could see Vladimir Putin's government banning grain exports, the senior economist of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation, Concepcion Calpe, told The Independent: "Private companies like Glencore are playing a game that will make them enormous profits."

Ms Calpe said leading international politicians and banks expecting Glencore to back away from trading in potential starvation and hunger in developing nations for "ethical reasons" would be disappointed.

"This won't happen," she said. "So now is the time to change the rules and regulations about how Glencore and other multinationals such as ADM and Monsanto operate. They know this and have been lobbying heavily around the world to water down and halt any reform."...MORE

This is also pretty stupid. Unless the U.N. and Oxfam can handle the finance and logistics  of moving massive amounts of food  around the world they don't really know what they are talking about.

HT: Foreign Policy's Passport blog