Rising Food Prices Threaten Democracy, Cause Conflict, IMF Says

Rising world food prices threaten democracies in poor countries, causing riots and civil conflict and widening the gap between rich and poor, a study by the International Monetary Fund found.

The findings are “broadly consistent” with politicians’ claims that surging food prices “put at stake the socio-economic and political stability of the world’s poorest countries,” IMF economist Rabah Arezki and Markus Brueckner of the University of Adelaide’s School of Economics wrote in a 23-page paper published on the organization’s website.