A GRIM FUTURE

Recent droughts in places like Australia and Africa combined with the explosive competition inside modern capitalism has led to many experts forecasting future disasters. "In recent months the commodity prices of rice, wheat and corn has jumped 50 percent or more, pushing retail prices to levels unseen in a generation and prompting grain-exporting countries to curtail trade to suppress domestic inflation. On March 20, the World Food Program issued an emergency appeal for more funding to keep aid moving to the world's poorest countries. Last week World Bank president Robert Zoellick called for urgent global action on the part of rich nations "or many more people will suffer or starve." (Newsweek, 14 April) RD