Great Grain Robbery

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The World for Sale: Money, Power and the Traders Who Barter the Earth’s Resources by Javier Blas, Jack Farchy

accounting loophole / creative accounting, airport security, algorithmic trading, Asian financial crisis, Ayatollah Khomeini, banking crisis, book value, BRICs, business climate, business cycle, collapse of Lehman Brothers, commodity super cycle, coronavirus, corporate raider, COVID-19, Deng Xiaoping, Donald Trump, electricity market, energy security, European colonialism, failed state, financial innovation, Ford Model T, foreign exchange controls, Great Grain Robbery, invisible hand, John Deuss, junk bonds, Kickstarter, light touch regulation, lockdown, low interest rates, margin call, new economy, North Sea oil, offshore financial centre, oil shale / tar sands, oil shock, oil-for-food scandal, Oscar Wyatt, price anchoring, proprietary trading, purchasing power parity, Ronald Reagan, Scramble for Africa, sovereign wealth fund, special economic zone, stakhanovite, Suez crisis 1956, trade route, vertical integration, WikiLeaks, Yom Kippur War, éminence grise

Tennant, Sons & Co, 57 Calil, Ely, 222 Caltex, 89 Canada, 70 , 75 , 76 , 83 , 170 , 239 , 273 , 286 Caracas, Venezuela, 154 Cargill, 14 , 17 , 25 , 26 , 29 –31 , 57 , 69 , 135 , 170 , 241 , 242 –3 , 326 animal feed trade, 261 billionaires, 19 Communist Bloc, trade with, 30 –31 Continental acquisition (1998), 170 , 173 –4 global financial crisis (2007–8), 243 Great Grain Robbery (1972), 38 –42 , 57 , 69 , 135 , 310 IPO, views on, 277 –8 metals trade, 57 profits, 38 , 248 , 249 shareholders, 277 –8 Soviet Union, trade with, 31 , 38 –42 , 135 Suez Crisis (1956), 36 Tradax International and, 30 , 40 –41 , 242 Ukraine, trade with, 162 Zimbabwe, trade with, 230 –32 Cargill, Margaret, 277 Cargill family, 19 , 249 , 277 Carter, James ‘Jimmy’, 94 Casablanca, Morocco, 33 Casimiro, Didier, 313 Castaño, Enrique, 152 Castro, Fidel, 9 , 48 , 151 –3 , 156 –8 , 161 , 306 caustic washing, 235 , 236 Cayman Islands, 281 , 289 , 308 Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), 43 , 76 , 316 Ceyhan, Turkey, 285 Chad, 206 , 222 , 273 , 294 –6 , 302 Chalmers, David, 64 , 203 Chase Manhattan, 60 Chelsea FC, 148 Chelyabinsk, Russia, 165 Chernoy, Lev, 133 –4 , 139 –44 , 148 Chevron, 32 , 65 , 89 , 170 , 213 –14 , 254 , 255 , 295 Chicago, Illinois, 13 , 102 , 243 , 246 Chile, 85 , 87 , 181 , 190 , 226 China, 17 , 18 , 106 , 130 , 138 , 175 –81 , 187 , 204 , 207 , 210 , 263 , 319 –20 Africa, trade with, 220 , 221 , 224 , 226 ballistic missile development, 43 ChinaOil, 320 coal market, 177 , 188 , 190 , 273 Coastal Corporation, trade with, 64 Cofco, 320 copper consumption, 18 , 179 , 181 , 195 , 226 , 233 coronavirus pandemic (2019–), 315 , 321 cotton consumption, 230 Cultural Revolution (1966–76), 177 economic slowdown (2011–), 315 food price crisis (2007–8), 239 –42 Kurdish crude in, 286 oil market, 179 –80 , 194 –5 , 211 –12 reform and opening-up (1978–2005), 177 –8 rice trade, 177 Unipec, 320 US trade war (2017–), 317 –18 WTO accession (2001), 179 , 196 , 317 Zhuhai Zhenrong, 320 , 326 China Investment Corporation, 262 China National Chemical Corporation, 212 ChinaOil, 320 Chivas Regal, 294 Chocfinger, 251 chocolate, 251 , 318 Citigroup, 194 –5 Claridge’s, London, 272 climate change, 21 , 188 , 255 , 318 , 326 , 327 Clinton, Hillary, 241 Clinton, William ‘Bill’, 97 –8 coal, 21 , 87 , 135 , 177 , 181 , 183 , 186 –93 , 258 , 273 , 318 Coastal Corporation, 64 , 110 , 200 , 203 cobalt, 9 , 223 , 224 , 226 , 273 , 314 , 318 Cobuco, 91 –4 cocoa, 251 , 318 Cofco, 320 coker gasoline, 234 –8 Collins, Phil, 314 Colombia, 131 , 183 , 187 , 258 Cometti, Antonio, 128 Compagnie Tommy, 236 –8 Concord Resources, 245 Congo Belgian Congo (1908–60), 33 , 218 , 222 Democratic Republic of Congo 20 , 85 , 199 , 218 –29 , 258 , 263 , 312 –13 , 314 Free State (1885–1908), 218 Republic of the Congo, 314 Congo river, 218 Conservative Party (UK), 3 , 147 , 273 , 290 Constanta, Romania, 168 ContiFinancial, 170 Continental Grain Company, 39 , 40 , 170 , 173 Convention on Combating Bribery, 275 Cook Colliery, Australia, 186 Cook Industries, 39 , 309 Cool Runnings , 78 copper, 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 27 , 35 , 56 , 172 , 233 arsenic in, 233 Australian production, 193 –4 Chinese consumption, 18 , 179 , 181 , 195 Congolese production, 223 , 224 , 225 , 226 –9 , 263 , 314 futures trade, 102 , 193 Glencore, 223 , 224 , 225 , 226 –9 , 258 , 263 , 264 nationalisation and, 85 Soviet production, 135 Sumitomo, 250 Zambian production, 226 , 232 CorElf, 64 corn, 9 , 27 , 30 , 40 , 162 , 171 , 240 , 247 , 253 coronavirus pandemic (2019–), 15 , 249 , 296 , 315 , 321 –5 corruption, 20 , 68 –9 , 98 , 167 , 207 , 247 , 260 , 275 , 308 –15 , 326 in Brazil, 313 –4 in Chad, 294 in China, 314 in Congo, 220 , 225 , 229 in Kurdistan, 288 in Nigeria, 221 in Russian Federation, 213 in Switzerland, 20 , 69 , 310 CÔte d’Ivoire, 20 , 232 , 233 –8 , 251 , 304 , 314 cotton, 230 Crandall, Mark, 88 , 121 , 125 , 126 , 128 , 132 , 238 Credit Suisse 312 credit, 60 –61 Crimea, 300 , 313 Crude Oil Trading, 164 Cuba, 9 , 48 , 77 , 151 –3 , 156 –61 , 165 , 174 , 305 –8 Cubametales, 158 Cubazucar, 158 Cultural Revolution (1966–76), 177 Cushing, Oklahoma, 104 Cyprus, 201 , 211 Czechoslovakia, 22 , 118 Dagli , 88 Dakar, Senegal, 33 Daley, Jim, 16 Dali, Salvador, 198 Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 232 Dauphin, Claude, 14 , 120 , 122 , 125 , 126 , 128 –30 BNP Paribas, relations with, 304 –8 Cuba, trade with, 159 death (2015), 325 Kurdish oil trade, 286 toxic waste scandal (2006), 235 –7 , 304 Trafigura foundation (1993), 129 –30 Davis, Carlton, 84 Davis, Craig, 124 Davis, Mick China prediction, 175 –6 , 178 , 181 , 192 –3 , 227 Glencore coal mines deal (2001–2), 191 –2 Glencore merger, 264 –5 , 267 , 269 –73 Mount Isa Mines deal (2002), 193 –4 Vale bid (2007), 264 –5 , 269 Déby, Idriss, 294 –6 , 302 Democratic Republic of Congo, 20 , 85 , 199 , 218 –29 , 258 , 263 , 312 –13 , 314 democratisation of information, 316 –17 Deng Xiaoping, 177 Department of Agriculture, US, 70 , 244 Deripaska, Oleg, 147 , 148 , 312 –3 derivatives, 101 –5 , 110 , 114 , 116 , 171 Brent crude, 115 copper, 102 , 193 food, 102 , 104 , 243 , 252 oil, 115 , 195 zinc, 124 Detiger, Jacques, 163 , 165 Deuss, Johannes ‘John’, 64 –6 , 68 , 89 , 90 , 95 , 114 –16 , 122 , 123 , 308 , 325 Deutsche Bank, 130 diamonds, 222 , 223 , 224 diesel, 2 , 5 , 7 , 23 , 24 , 72 , 90 , 164 , 168 , 206 , 232 , 253 Diocletian, Roman Emperor, 252 Dole, Robert ‘Bob’, 253 Dominican Republic, 154 Dreyfuss, Danny, 120 , 131 Drujan, Josef, 288 Druzhba pipeline, 208 DT Group, 230 Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 199 , 281 , 288 , 297 Dublin, Ireland, 281 Duelfer Report (2004), 202 Dunand, Marco, 211 , 216 East India Company, 25 Ebner, Martin, 126 –7 Eilat–Ashkelon pipeline, 43 , 45 , 46 –7 , 49 –51 , 285 –6 Egloff, Eddie, 86 Egypt, 28 food price crisis (2007–8), 240 October War (1973), 53 oil production, 168 Revolution (2011), 247 Six-Day War (1967), 45 Suez Crisis (1956), 36 Eilat–Ashkelon pipeline, 43 , 45 , 46 –7 , 49 –51 , 94 , 285 –6 electric cars, 9 , 223 electricity, 79 , 81 , 172 Elf Aquitaine, 61 , 64 , 170 Elizabethville, Belgian Congo, 33 Elman, Richard, 196 , 277 emerging markets, 17 , 85 Emmitt, Bill, 65 Endt, Friso, 65 Enex, 190 –92 Engelhart Commodities Trading Partners, 244 Enron, 172 –3 , 174 , 195 Equatorial Guinea, 206 , 273 Erbil, Iraq, 198 , 285 , 287 , 289 Es Sider, Libya, 5 –6 Estonia, 209 ethanol, 253 –6 Ethiopia, 232 Euro-Asian Oil, 299 Euromin, 143 , 165 Europe , 322 , 323 , 324 Exmor Group, 288 Exportkhleb, 38 , 135 Exxon, 54 , 78 , 97 , 170 , 316 ExxonMobil, 32 , 44 , 213 , 319 Fair Trade, 318 Fallujah, Iraq, 283 Farmer, Michael, 195 Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), 95 , 313 , 327 Fegel, Gary, 259 ferroalloys, 29 , 140 , 146 , 190 , 273 , 275 Ferruzzi, 114 Fina, 170 Financial Services Authority (FSA), 250 Financial Times , 10 , 112 , 278 financialisation, 18 , 101 –5 , 110 , 113 –14 , 252 Finch, Bob, 167 , 207 Flacks, Alan, 49 Flaux, Julian Martin, 169 food price crises (2007–10), 239 –42 , 248 , 250 , 252 , 255 –6 Forbes , 147 Ford, Henry, 253 Foreign Affairs , 52 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (1977), 310 France, 36 , 70 , 200 , 294 Frank, Ernst, 35 Fransen, David, 7 , 159 Fribourg, Michel, 39 frontier markets, 292 FTSE 100 index, 15 , 269 , 276 , 278 , 282 futures, 101 –3 , 104 , 110 , 113 , 116 backwardation, 193 food, 102 , 104 , 243 , 246 , 252 copper, 102 , 193 oil, 115 , 195 zinc, 124 G7 summit (1979), 70 G12 (traders), 131 Gaddafi, Muammar, 1 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 8 , 64 , 166 , 247 Gaddafi, Saif al-Islam, 4 gas, 21 , 172 Gdansk, Poland, 210 , 211 Gecamines, 228 Geller, Uri, 224 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (1947), 317 Geneva, Switzerland, 63 Genovese, Lucio, 131 , 149 George Town, Cayman Islands 281 Gerald Metals, 143 Germany coal consumption, 183 , 273 East Germany (1949–90), 29 Nazi period (1933–45), 22 , 24 , 26 , 47 , 87 wheat futures ban (1897), 252 West Germany (1949–90), 22 –4 , 28 , 70 Gertler, Dan, 222 –9 , 313 Gibraltar, 49 Gilvary, Brian, 172 Giuliani, Rudolph ‘Rudy’, 97 Glasenberg, Ivan, 11 , 14 , 21 , 131 , 148 , 175 , 181 –5 , 260 –61 , 325 , 326 –7 coal trade, 21 , 185 –94 , 260 Congo, trade with, 225 –9 , 314 IPO (2011), 257 –9 , 263 , 266 –9 , 273 , 274 , 276 Russia, trade with, 300 , 302 , 328 share price crisis (2015), 276 Xstrata merger, 263 –5 , 269 –73 , 276 glasnost , 135 GlaxoSmithKline, 278 Glencore, 9 –12 , 14 , 15 , 21 , 59 , 119 , 130 –32 , 167 –9 , 174 aluminium trade, 205 , 245 bonuses, 131 bribery, use of, 314 Chad, trade with, 295 –6 coal trade, 21 , 186 –93 , 258 , 273 , 318 Congo, trade with, 219 , 222 –9 , 263 , 312 –13 , 314 copper trade, 223 , 224 , 225 , 226 –9 , 263 , 264 , 314 coronavirus pandemic (2019–), 321 –4 corruption probe (2018), 314 debt, 263 , 267 , 276 Enex, 190 –92 foundation (1994), 128 Glasenberg takes over (2002), 185 global financial crisis (2007–9), 265 –6 grain trade, 245 –7 , 273 IPO (2011), 257 –61 , 262 –9 , 273 –9 , 282 , 319 Iraq, trade with, 197 –9 , 202 –3 , 285 , 287 –91 , 292 Jamaica, trade with, 84 , 205 Kurdistan, trade with, 285 , 287 –90 , 292 Nigeria, trade with, 12 , 168 , 314 Oilflow SPV I DAC, 281 –2 , 287 –90 , 292 profits, 248 , 249 Roche, relationship with, 188 –92 , 267 Romania, trade with, 167 –9 Russia, trade with, 143 , 145 –6 , 147 –8 , 300 , 301 –2 share price crisis (2015), 276 shareholders, 19 , 131 –2 , 257 –69 , 273 –5 , 276 Südelektra, 189 –91 Tajikistan, trade with, 162 Venezuela, trade with, 314 women in, 15 Xstrata and, 175 –6 , 178 , 181 , 189 –94 , 263 –73 , 276 , 301 zinc trade, 258 , 273 global financial crisis (2007–9), 243 , 244 , 265 –6 , 292 God squad, 195 gold standard, 51 , 70 –71 Golden Age of Capitalism, 24 Goldman Sachs, 13 , 111 , 130 , 206 , 266 Gorbachev, Mikhail, 135 Gore, Albert ‘Al’, 65 grain, 9 , 14 , 18 , 19 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 170 Cargill, see Cargill, Chinese consumption, 239 –42 food price crises (2007–10), 239 –42 , 248 , 250 , 252 , 255 –6 futures trade, 102 , 243 , 246 Glencore, 245 Great Grain Robbery (1972), 38 –42 , 57 , 69 , 135 , 310 Granaria, 245 Great Grain Robbery (1972), 38 –42 , 57 , 69 , 135 , 310 Green, Pincus, 50 , 52 –3 , 55 , 57 –8 , 60 , 61 , 94 , 97 , 118 , 120 Greenwich, Connecticut, 100 , 113 Grenada, 77 Guatemala, 161 Guinea, 75 Gulf Oil, 36 Gulf War (1990–91), 100 –101 , 106 , 108 –10 , 157 , 200 Gunvor, 20 , 207 –16 , 230 , 262 , 300 , 313 , 314 , 318 , 326 Gurov, Evgeny, 23 , 24 , 35 Gutfreund, John, 108 , 112 , 113 Guyana, 76 Haaretz , 46 Hachuel, Jacques, 60 Hackel, Alexander ‘Alec’, 60 , 98 , 125 Haiti, 154 Hall, Andy, 11 , 105 –13 , 116 , 171 , 173 , 243 , 249 , 325 China trade, 194 –5 Gulf War trade, 100 –101 , 106 –10 , 322 , 323 Hamanaka, Yasuo, 250 Hamze, Alex Hayssam, 226 , 227 Hansen, Mark, 20 , 245 Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 280 Hart, Hugh, 72 –4 , 78 , 80 Havana, Cuba, 151 –3 Hawrami, Ashti, 291 hedging, 13 , 103 , 105 , 109 , 194 , 228 , 229 , 244 , 265 , 276 Helms–Burton Act (1996), 160 Hendel, Stephen, 111 Heunis, Chris, 89 Hobbs, Jeremy, 250 Holder, Eric, 307 –8 Holocaust (1941–5), 27 Hong Kong, 176 , 183 , 196 , 269 , 277 Horstmann, Udo, 88 , 183 HSBC, 312 Hungary, 31 Hunt Oil, 36 Hussein, Saddam, 9 , 64 debt crisis (1990), 107 Gulf War (1990–91), 101 , 108 , 110 , 157 , 199 –200 , 283 Kurds, relations with, 283 oil surcharges, 200 –201 , 202 , 207 , 210 US invasion (2003), 201 , 283 ICI, 154 Incomed Trading Corporation, 202 India, 17 , 25 , 28 , 48 , 85 , 86 , 180 , 226 Indonesia, 17 , 85 , 180 intelligence networks, 36 International Energy Agency, 70 International Monetary Fund (IMF), 78 , 83 , 252 , 294 , 296 , 303 , 310 International Petroleum Exchange, 115 Iran, 12 , 168 Burundi, trade with, 93 coronavirus pandemic (2019–), 321 Islamic Revolution (1979), 45 , 67 , 88 , 94 , 105 Israel pipeline, 43 , 45 , 46 –7 , 49 –51 , 94 , 285 Marc Rich, trade with, 68 –9 , 94 –7 Marimpex, trade with, 64 OPEC established (1960), 44 Philipp Brothers oil deal (1973), 52 –3 , 55 Rotterdam market trade, 62 sanctions on, 305 , 309 , 312 South Africa, trade with, 88 Taylor in, 154 , 166 US hostage crisis (1979–81), 20 , 94 , 96 US sanctions, 305 , 320 –21 Vitol, trade with, 166 , 309 Iraq, 9 , 197 –203 , 325 Bayoil, trade with, 64 , 203 Coastal Corporation, trade with, 64 , 110 , 200 , 203 debt crisis (1990), 107 Glencore, trade with, 197 –9 , 202 –3 Gulf War (1990–91), 100 –101 , 106 , 108 –10 , 157 , 200 Iran-Iraq War (1980–88), 110 Islamic State in, 283 Kurdistan, 198 , 280 –91 , 295 , 298 , 299 , 302 , 328 oil-for-food programme (1995–2003), 197 –203 , 207 , 210 , 310 OPEC established (1960), 44 Trafigura, trade with, 201 , 203 US-led War invasion (2003–11), 201 , 283 , 311 Vitol, trade with, 201 , 203 , 285 , 286 –7 , 291 , 310 Ireland, 281 iron ore, 175 –6 , 181 , 261 , 264 Islamic State, 8 , 288 , 289 , 302 Israel, 36 Diamond Exchange, 223 Eilat–Ashkelon pipeline, 43 , 45 , 46 –7 , 49 –51 , 94 , 285 –6 Rich’s citizenship, 97 , 98 Six-Day War (1967), 45 Yom Kippur War (1973), 53 Issroff, David, 140 , 146 , 275 Italy, 70 , 321 Ivory Coast, 20 , 232 , 233 –8 , 251 , 304 , 314 J.P.

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On 3 July, just before the Russians started talking to Continental, milling wheat prices in Kansas were $1.44 a bushel; within ten weeks, the price had risen 60%. Worse was to come: in the year after the Soviet deal, wheat prices tripled. Corn and soybean prices also climbed. With grain prices rising, the price of meat shot higher too. 37 The public was outraged. The episode became known as the ‘Great Grain Robbery’. Cargill reacted to the outrage by trying to demonstrate that it hadn’t profited from the hunger of American citizens. For the first time in its 107-year history, it made information on its trades public. It even commissioned its auditors to compile a report demonstrating it had lost money on the Soviet sales.

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And the surge in prices meant the profits could be extraordinary. Old commodity traders like Philipp Brothers soon realised they could make more money buying and selling crude than they had done in decades of trading metals. Soon it had expanded into grains, coffee and sugar trading. The agricultural commodity traders, flush with cash from the Great Grain Robbery, also began to look to other markets. Cargill broke into metals in 1972 by buying C. Tennant, Sons & Co, a metals trader, for $5.95 million. 30 Over the next few years, it went into steel and oil too. The first global commodity trading houses, capable of dealing in energy, metals and agriculture simultaneously, had emerged.

Flash Crash: A Trading Savant, a Global Manhunt, and the Most Mysterious Market Crash in History by Liam Vaughan

algorithmic trading, backtesting, bank run, barriers to entry, Bernie Madoff, Black Monday: stock market crash in 1987, Black Swan, Bob Geldof, centre right, collapse of Lehman Brothers, data science, Donald Trump, Elliott wave, eurozone crisis, family office, financial engineering, Flash crash, Great Grain Robbery, high net worth, High speed trading, information asymmetry, Jeff Bezos, Kickstarter, land bank, margin call, market design, market microstructure, Market Wizards by Jack D. Schwager, Navinder Sarao, Nick Leeson, offshore financial centre, pattern recognition, Ponzi scheme, proprietary trading, Ralph Nelson Elliott, Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, Ronald Reagan, selling pickaxes during a gold rush, sovereign wealth fund, spectrum auction, Stephen Hawking, the market place, Timothy McVeigh, Tobin tax, tulip mania, yield curve, zero-sum game

The commodities changed, but the methods were consistent: a trader with deep pockets quietly cornered supply and forced prices up; an unscrupulous short-seller spread negative rumors and pushed them lower; supposed competitors formed a nefarious pact. In 1974, after a particularly egregious episode known as the “Great Grain Robbery,” President Gerald Ford created the CFTC as a kind of designated cop for futures akin to the SEC. But a few years later, when three brothers from Texas monopolized the silver market and pushed prices up by 713 percent, it was clear little had changed. Part of the problem was cultural.

Kissinger: A Biography by Walter Isaacson

Alan Greenspan, Apollo 13, belling the cat, Berlin Wall, Charles Lindbergh, cuban missile crisis, deep learning, Deng Xiaoping, Dr. Strangelove, Great Grain Robbery, haute couture, Herman Kahn, index card, Khyber Pass, long peace, Mikhail Gorbachev, Monroe Doctrine, Norman Mailer, oil shock, out of africa, Plato's cave, RAND corporation, restrictive zoning, rolodex, Ronald Reagan, Seymour Hersh, Socratic dialogue, Ted Sorensen, Yom Kippur War

At the same time, the North Vietnamese would suddenly become willing to negotiate an end to the war. (By 1975, the trade status deal would come unraveled. So, at that precise time, would the peace in Vietnam. The Soviets have a favorite phrase that goes, “It is no accident that . . .”) One of the economic arrangements to emerge was the infamous grain deal of 1972, known as the Great Grain Robbery. Handled mainly by the ebullient agricultural secretary, Earl Butz, it arranged for the Soviets to make major purchases of surplus American grain in return for credit and the right to buy at subsidized prices. It was seen, at first, as a political coup for the president. What happened, however, was that instead of the $150 million worth of grain that Kissinger thought would be involved, the Soviets went quietly into the marketplace to cut deals with different U.S. companies.

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WHY, 1222–29; Hersh, The Price of Power, 527; Winston Lord, Nov. 2, 1989; William Hyland, Oct. 22, 1990. 31. “Basic Principles of Relations,” May 29, 1972, Department of State Bulletin, vol. 66, 898; Hoffmann, Primacy or World Order, 64; WHY, 1205, 1209, 1213. 32. Peter Peterson, Nov. 26, 1989; Garthoff, Détente and Confrontation, 305–7; WHY, 1271; Trager, The Great Grain Robbery; Hersh, The Price of Power, 343–48, 531–34. 33. The description of the ICBM and SLBM dispute is largely based on Détente and Confrontation by Garthoff, 163–98. He was a negotiator of the agreement, and his resentment over Kissinger’s intrusions are reflected in his criticisms. But his account is well documented.

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New York: Harper & Row, 1979. ———. The Master of the Game. New York: Knopf, 1988. Thornton, Richard. The Nixon-Kissinger Years. New York: Paragon, 1989. Tivnan, Edward. The Lobby. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1987. Toynbee, Arnold. A Study of History. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1946 & 1957. Trager, James. The Great Grain Robbery. New York: Ballantine, 1975. Truscott, Lucian, IV. Dress Gray. New York: Doubleday, 1978. Valeriani, Richard. Travels With Henry. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1979. Viorst, Milton. Sands of Sorrow. New York: Harper & Row, 1987. Walters, Vernon. Silent Missions. New York: Doubleday, 1978. Westmoreland, William.

Living in a Material World: The Commodity Connection by Kevin Morrison

addicted to oil, Alan Greenspan, An Inconvenient Truth, barriers to entry, Berlin Wall, biodiversity loss, carbon credits, carbon footprint, carbon tax, clean water, commoditize, commodity trading advisor, computerized trading, diversified portfolio, Doha Development Round, Elon Musk, energy security, European colonialism, flex fuel, food miles, Ford Model T, Great Grain Robbery, Gregor Mendel, Hernando de Soto, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, hydrogen economy, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), junk bonds, Kickstarter, Long Term Capital Management, managed futures, Market Wizards by Jack D. Schwager, Michael Milken, new economy, North Sea oil, oil rush, oil shale / tar sands, oil shock, out of africa, Paul Samuelson, peak oil, planned obsolescence, price mechanism, Ronald Coase, Ronald Reagan, Silicon Valley, sovereign wealth fund, the payments system, The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith, trade liberalization, transaction costs, uranium enrichment, vertical integration, young professional

‘I happened to be down on the floor TRADERS | 231 when it all exploded . . . we became a thriving global grain exchange and the world began to realize that they could come to Chicago and purchase food on a futures basis,’ said Shuff, who has a son who is also a trader on the CBOT floor. And so the ‘Great Grain Robbery’ ensued. The Soviets bought a quarter of US grain crops, sending prices to their highest levels since 1917. It triggered a massive escalation of domestic food prices, forcing President Nixon to impose strict food price controls. The purchase by Russia also reflected a structural change in global grains trade, which had risen five-fold from its pre-World War II level by the mid-1970s (Tamarkin, 1985).