Leadership Council Endorsements |
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Dear Commissioner: As World Food Day approaches, you are one of five key people who can make a difference to millions around the world who go hungry every day. This year's theme for WFD focuses on your role at the Commodities Futures Trading Commission: "Food prices - from crisis to stability." In the United States, one in six children is food insecure. Globally, estimates are topping nearly one billion people, or one in seven, who suffer from hunger. In addition, poor people spend upwards of 75% of their income on food, according to a World Bank Report, so rising food prices hit them the hardest. You have been tasked with establishing position limits for commodities. Originally, the agricultural futures markets, including derivatives, were intended to help food producers, processors and end users price their products as well as offer an insurance against massive losses. In 2000, the Commodity Futures Modernization Act eliminated many safeguards. In addition, new players who have no direct interest in these food markets were allowed to bet on the price of food. Today, after a decade of deregulation, there is evidence that increased speculation is linked to higher prices of the actual food we purchase. The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act mandates stronger financial regulation. By establishing strict position limits so that there is a cap to the size of bets as well as a limit to the number of bets one trader can make, you will eliminate the excessive, damaging speculation that exists today. Clear positions limits provide regulatory certainty and encourage stable derivatives markets for the benefit of farmers and consumers. Food price volatility is a matter of life and death. Please support strict regulations on agricultural commodities.
Helen Ingles, IHM |
