ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the three food price spikes in the 1940s, 1970s and 2007–2008 to evaluate the key similarities and differences and to understand what lessons could be drawn from the experiences for the future of world food prices. It also discusses the price spikes in 2010–2011. The chapter provides the three food price spikes in the context of the theories of Malthus. The question is posed as to whether the food spike and its predecessors are indeed the ‘recurrent miseries’. The similarities and differences between the crises, in particular regarding the origins of and responses to the crises. The key idea of Malthus is that resources are fixed while population growth is not and that this resource constraint will eventually curtail economic growth in one way or another. The lifting of price controls prevalent during the war gave rise to significant inflation world–wide and, in particular, to rapidly increasing food prices.
