Behavioral economics, carb phobia, and wheat futures prices . . . circa 1930

from the October 1, 1930, WSJ (Dow 204.90 -3.24 (1.6%)):

Wheat futures have plunged from 99 cents/bushel to below 73 cents in less than two months. This is sheer panic: “Wheat is selling below its worth and there is nothing behind this drive but unreasoning and unreasoned fear.” There has been one story after another advanced to justify the decline, from depression to German elections to Russian short-sales; none of these hold up to examination.  . . . “Sometimes an elephant will take fright at a mouse and create a stampede in the herd. Market psychology seems about on the same order.”

One man's opinion on why wheat prices are down: “some people consider it a disgrace to be fat. It is a hipless, thin limbed age, and that means a big falling off in the consumption of wheat.”