UN stuns many by suggesting interventionist policies

Government intervention may be needed to burst the huge bubble that has developed in the price of commodities such as food staples and oil, a UN report says .

Prices have rocketed in response to dysfunctional commodities markets,
according to the report, which also disputes the view of many senior
economists and central bankers that commodity prices have jumped as a
result of a surge in demand.

"The changing role of commodity markets, which are turning into
financial markets, has enormous repercussions for the economy," said one of the report's authors - Heiner Flassbeck, a director at the UN
conference on trade and development