It's dumber than that. People have been speculating on food derivatives for centuries. They were the first derivatives. Exchange-traded financial derivatives we

It's dumber than that. People have been speculating on food derivatives for centuries. They were the first derivatives. Exchange-traded financial derivatives weren't even invented until the 70s. For example, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onion_Futures_Act http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onion_Futures_Act , where speculation on onions was banned in 1953. It probably increased volatility, and more probably made pricing less efficient.