The LA Times tells us today about the rising prices of commodities, coffee, cotton, and other items, that will be pinching our pocketbooks even more as the dollar weakens:

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-commodity-prices-20101110,0,6641189,full.story

Near as I can tell, with the exception of cotton, this is more a story of the deliberate depreciation of the dollar than a story of demand driven rising prices. We've been bitching for a decade about China's irresponsibility in sitting on the value of the Yuan but then, when Europe and Japan complain about a concerted effort by Treasury and the Fed to unilateraly drive down the value of the world's reserve currency (therby making their own domestic problems that much more intractable), we shoot them the diplomatic equivalent of the bird.

Notice that (excepting cotton) in Yen terms commodity prices are actually down a bit. Even in Euro terms, prices are up only moderately.

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In related news, notice that Ireland's public finances are about to implode a la Greece despite a massive cut in expenditures equivalent to the elimination of the entire budget of the Department of Defense in the US. And Spain and Portugal and Italy are still on everybody's death watch list. Germany is the primary beneficiary of the Euro but it's anyone's guess how long German industrialists and politicians will be able to pursuade a recalcitrant German public to subsidize the mistakes of the peripheral states. And without those subsidies, the Euro is dead.

And then what? We are in a slow roll finantial crisis that ain't over yet by a long shot.

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Edit: Not to worry folks. We have a crippled Senate Majority Leader, a currupt windbag stepping up as Speaker of the House and the always decisive Obama in the White House. With the Dems gnawing at their own vitals and the Repubs distracted by a civil war for control of the party, who can doubt that we are well positioned to respond nimbly to every challenge.

You are obviously not a coffee drinker!