Chapter Two

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/122955


Summary:
The price of gold is the talk of the town. Many people are interested because they own or want to own gold themselves. The demand for gold has risen so much that it is at its all time high. People are now trying to determine the value of gold to make a choice; whether to keep it and sell it later for more or to sell it while it's at a high price. Sooner or later there will be people making small profits and other parties with massive losses. Gold speculators argue that gold is a safe haven when currencies lose value. Since inflation numbers are slow despite the large amounts of money generated, gold is running on expectations that the feds will not be able to control the inflation later.

Connection:
Consumers tend to purchase cheaper goods rather than more expensive ones. Therefore if the price of the goods increase, fewer people will buy it. The connection between the article and the textbook is that the demand of gold has gotten so high that the prices may soon be uncontrollable which will affect the quantity demanded. The supply of gold is slowly decreasing which may cause the price of gold to rise even more.

Reflection:
With the fact that the price of gold may soon be uncontrollable is unbelievable. Who know how high or how low the price of gold will be in the future? With our economy in a recession and with gold retaining its value fairly well, I think it is a good idea to invest in it especially if you don't know the long term effects of our currency. If the demand for gold is so high now, it will be interesting to see what it is like after the recession.

Chapter One

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,606937,00.html

Summary:
This article is about diminishing food production. There are many environmental trends that are slowly destroying our food economy especially falling water tables, eroding soils, and rising temperatures. The earth has 70 percent of all water used for irrigation, but the drilling of millions of irrigation wells have pushed water withdrawal to be unable to be renewed from rainfall. In six of the last eight years, the world's grain production has fallen short of consumption. In 2008, world grain prices have climbed to the highest ever. It all began when wheat exporting countries limited or sometimes even banned exporting wheat in an attempt to counter domestic food price rises. Recently, the United States's use of grain for ethanol has nearly doubled from 19 million metric tons to more than 36 million metric tons.

Connection:
The connection between the article and chapter one is scarcity. With food sources declining, we should not waste food or take it for granted. Due to it being scarce, we have to decide how much we are going to eat and try to finish it. On Average countries like the US and Canada, the annual grain consumption is close to 800 kilograms per person, but about 90 percent is consumed as meat, milk, and eggs. The demand for grain will soon increase even further making it so that the prices will continue rising. With the demand increasing and the supply declining, we may need to find another source of food.

Reflection:
With the Saudis phasing out wheat production by 2016, it makes me wonder what the world will resort to. Food is essential for our life. Without food we will not survive. We can try to preserve as much wheat as we can. That can be done by not wasting food, and the rest is up to nature to tell how well the wheat production will be. With great demand for wheat, we should try and find a different major source of food to rely on. The question now is how much longer will wheat production continue until it ceases.