A recent string of record-high prices in commodities as different as coffee and copper may be traced back to the same underlying cause: a U.S. economy that is running hot.
The rising prices of commodities might even be a sign that the Federal Reserve is not succeeding in its efforts to drive down inflation, economists told the Washington Examiner. In other words, record commodity prices could mean that monetary policy is too loose, even after a number of rate hikes by the Fed.
The Fed, at first glance, might appear to be an unlikely culprit in the rise in commodity prices.
Instead, it would seem that a series of random one-off factors drove up the prices of different commodities.
Cocoa prices, for insta …