The Doomsday Food Price Scenario Turning Hedgies into Survivalists

[roxiejules]

http://www.observer.com/hedge-funds-running-farms-05172011?page=0 - The New York Observer


It may seem a little odd that in 2011 anyone's thinking of putting money into assets that would have seemed attractive in 1911, but there's something in the air-namely, fear. The hedge fund manager and others like him envision a doomsday scenario catalyzed by a weak dollar, higher-than-you-think inflation and an uncertain political climate here and abroad.

Even Michael Burry, the now-defunct Scion Capital founder and star protagonist of Michael Lewis' The Big Short-who bet against the housing bubble in 2008 with credit default swaps to enormous profit-gave a rare interview on Bloomberg TV last year, explaining that he's thrown his hat into "productive agriculture land with water on site" as it's going to be "very valuable in the future."

There is, of course, a slightly more sinister reason to develop a sudden interest in agriculture. Last year, Marc Faber recommended to anyone: "Stock up on a farm in northern Norway and learn to drive a tractor." He sees a "dirty war" on the horizon, playing on fears of a biological attack poisoning food supplies. Those sort of fears drive capital into everything from gold (recently at an all-time high and a long-time safe haven for investors with currency concerns) to survivalist accoutrements. In this particular case, one might buy the farm in order to avoid buying the farm.

That may seem extreme, but even the lesser scenarios are frightening to some. When asked if this is an end-of-the-world situation, the hedge fund manager replied: "It really is. I tell my fiancée this from time to time, and I've stopped telling her this, because it's not the most pleasant thought." He pauses for a moment. "We just can't keep living the way we're living. It'll end within our lifetime. We're just going to run out of certain things. We'll just have to learn how to adjust."

[nebenaube]

1. Unless you have a shelter with NBC air filtration and green houses

you're kinda screwed...

[Demeter]

2. You can't farm in northern Norway

Trust me, I've been there. We had a snowball fight in June.

Even if global warming got the temp up, there's no topsoil. Just rock and the Arctic Ocean.

[izquierdista]

3. Fish and seaweed

Yum.

[pscot]

9. Well, seaweed anyway.

The fish are a lot harder to find now days.

[roxiejules]

4. Leave it to a hedge fund manager

to promote farming on rock!

[Diclotican]

5. Demeter

Demeter

You CAN farm in Northen Norway. Pepole have been doing that for houndres of years.. But it is not easy, and the crops have to be like the rock they are growing up off... Potatoes is a great crop to grow in Northen parts of Norway. And it is topsoil even in the northen parts of North Norway.. You can farm as long north/east as the norwigian-russian border..

But for the most part, farming and fishing have been the way of living in the northen parts of Norway. As farming alone are not enough to survive.. But if you can fish, and farm.. Then you have a living worth living...

But yea, you can experience a snowball fight in June too... Even in the south of Norway, you can sometimes experience cold summers where you can wonder if the winter ever stoped, or just tok a break for the summer.... (i DONT kid you, have experienced summers, where we had snow behind the house to the mid-sommer.. In 1987. It was the "year" the winter was so long, that no one reqonized that the summer was there:P

Diclotican

[Demeter]

7. That would be barely sustainable farming, though

It wouldn't support a cash crop.

How is it this year? We are barely into spring ourselves, here in Michigan. It's 3-6 weeks late.

[Diclotican]

8. Demeter

Demeter

Of course it wil not suport a cash crop, not every year at least.. But then most of the farming have allways been for private consuming, and not for sale..

The spring have in fact been nice for the most part this year..Not to hot, but no to cold either.. The spring have been gentle this year.. And my alergy are not been to angry either.;) I just hope the summer wil be better than it was last year, a couple of weeks with sun, and then for the most part cold.. But at least it is summer, and it looks like it can be rather warm this year...

For the most part its have been in the 14-15*C most of the last couple of weeks.. So it have not been that bad.. And we have also celebrated our national day may 17.. And it was a good day for the most of it, even tho some showers made it wet;)

Diclotican

[yellowcanine]

6. "Learn to drive a tractor"... Yeah that will help you when the oil is all gone.

[mountainlion55]

10. Does anyone grow Cannabis in that part of Norway?

:smoke: