Deadly rioting broke out this week across Haiti and Egypt, where rampaging inflation has driven up food prices. The United Nations estimates that the cost of food in those countries has nearly doubled in the last two years.
In Egypt, bread is so scarce that in some places it is sold behind a barricaded wall. In Haiti, the 9,000 U.N. peacekeepers have been ordered not to fire on civilians while widespread looting and violence continues.
The Group of Seven is meeting in Washington this weekend to address instability in the global economy, but many analysts seem skeptical about how effective the organization will be at steadying inflation.