Let Them Eat Free Markets

In April, crowds of angry Haitians -- reduced to eating mud cakes to staunch hunger -- erupted in deadly protests against high food prices, forcing the prime minister to resign. The price of rice, a staple of the Haitian diet, had risen 16 percent on the world market last year, then shot up 141 percent from January to April. Around the world, similar riots -- or fears of them -- have pushed governments to restrict exports, reduce tariffs, attack hoarding and take other desperate measures as prices of virtually all major food commodities have spiked -- and often fluctuated wildly. But in the months since Haitians hit the streets, leaders of the major international financial organizations -- the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Trade Organization (WTO) -- as well as the Bush administration and... [read full story]