ABSTRACT
The four-decade span from 1950 to 1990 was a period of remarkable worldwide progress, one with gains on a scale that had no precedent. After nearly four decades of unprecedented progress, it is hard for the reader to imagine how different conditions will be in the decades ahead if they continue with business as usual. Of all economic indicators, none is more politically sensitive than food prices. In summary, the food security budget outlined here, including needed expenditures on both sides of the food/population equation, would start at $24 billion in 1996, increasing rapidly to just over $58 billion in the year 2000 and then grow much more slowly, reaching $61 billion by 2005. Despite the end of the cold war, the world is still spending close to $700 billion for military purposes, much of it designed to deal with threats that have long since disappeared.
