Rising Pork Prices Cause Chaos and Rising Stock Prices in China
If I had to guess what is the most commonly consumed meat in China, I would guess chicken and then pork, with pork close behind. Hence, anytime there is a rise in pork prices, you know that Chinese consumers are feeling the pinch. And pork in China tastes about the same as pork anywhere in the world (unlike beef - not so tasty in China). It’s quite good.
China’s annual inflation rate hits 3.4%
And this is the same theme in an article by Bloomberg today on China inflation, which itself has hit a 3.4% annual rate. That in combination with the ever falling dollar has caused a good bit of pain in my pocket - getting paid in US dollars in today’s inflationary China is not a good thing. And pork, my favorite meat in this giant country, is especially expensive (from the above mentioned article):
A surge in grain costs and a shortage of pigs has pushed up pork prices, raising concern that social instability may follow in the world’s biggest consumer of the meat.
Rising Pork Prices = Higher China Stock Prices?
While I like my pork in China, I don’t quite get the tenuous connection Bloomberg makes in the article between rising pork prices and a speculative stock market, and bet you don’t either. Yet I do get the connection between dangerously high stock prices, high inflation, and social instability. This from the same article:
“The stock market is like the place for legal gambling in China,” Walker said. “It’s getting dangerous now, with so many people speculating on it that a collapse could lead to social problems.”
That and high pork prices, although in this case a collapse in pork prices would help resolve some building social pressures.
