THE CAUSE OF RIOTS and the price of food. “This isn’t rocket science. It stands to reason that people become desperate when food is unobtainable. It’s often said that any society is three square meals from anarchy. But what’s interesting about this analysis is that Lagi and co say that high food prices don’t necessarily trigger riots themselves, they simply create the conditions in which social unrest can flourish.” So maybe printing money and promoting food-based ethanol is a bad idea? Unless, you know, you want to create social unrest. (Via Ken Anderson).