commodities

Over the past year the world has experienced unstable prices in more ways than we could have imagined not that long ago. Just as turbulent as international stock exchanges and food prices? Crude oil.

Over the summer of 2008, oil prices peaked close to $150 a barrel. Last week it was selling below $40. Crashing prices mean tightening budgets in many countries that rely on income from oil extraction. In places such as Russia, Venezuela, and Iran, social programs that derived most of their funding from resource sales have been drastically cut.