Modern agriculture has been accurately described as a way of turning oil into food. As the price of oil continues to rise, so will the price of food.

I would say that financial markets are very inefficient, and capable of extremes of being completely dysfunctional.

Americans are just about the worst at dealing with long-term problems, down there with Uzbekistan, but they respond to a market signal better than almost anyone. They roll the dice bigger and quicker than most.

By background I'm both a Quaker and a Yorkshireman, which I like to call double jeopardy.

Volatility is a symptom that people have no idea of the underlying value.

I hate gold. It does not pay a dividend, it has no value, and you can't work out what it should or shouldn't be worth," he said. "It is the last refuge of the desperate.

There is no single theory that is used in economics that considers the finite nature of resources. It's shocking.