Patt Morrison for Tuesday, March 22, 2011

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

1-3 p.m.

 

CALL-IN @ 866-893-5722, 866-893-KPCC; OR JOIN THE CONVERSATION ONLINE ON THE PATT MORRISON BLOG AT KPCC-DOT-ORG

 

 

1:06 – 1:39

OPEN

 

 

1:41 – 1:58:30

Drink it while the drinking is good: specialty coffee crops facing the heat

Love it or hate it, as Starbucks goes so goes the world of coffee—so coffee drinkers took notice late last week when Starbucks announced it was raising the price of its packaged coffee by an average of 12 percent.  Starbucks blamed the price increases on the speculation market, which is driving up the price of Arabica coffee beans, but speculators might have reason to worry about supplies.  In the last few years coffee yields in Colombia and in many of Latin America’s other premier coffee regions have plummeted as a result of rising temperatures and more intense and unpredictable rains.  It’s debatable whether the weather phenomenon has a direct link to global warming but what is not up for argument is the finicky nature of coffee plants and the shrinking crop of quality coffee beans.  There are some fears among purveyors that the Arabica coffee supply from Colombia may never rebound—that the world might have hit “peak coffee.”  Should you fear for the future of your morning cup of joe?

 

Guests:

Representative of the Specialty Coffee Association of America

 

 

 

2:06 – 2:30

March marks morbid market for housing

As it turns out, any housing market recovery that’s been predicted is still a long way off, according to data out this week from the National Association of Realtors. They found that February broke a three month stretch of gains, plummeting sales of pre-owned U.S. homes by 9.6 percent. That was the single largest decline since July, with prices near a nine-year low, worse than even the most pessimistic economists’ predictions. Winter weather, tight credit conditions and lagging home appraisals all had a hand in the plunge. Economists say it’s difficult to predict what will happen from here on when you add a glut of homes on the market, fed by a flood of foreclosures, and rising crude oil prices that have forced many to scale-back spending. How do you fit into the housing market? Are you looking to sell but waiting for your home to regain its pre-plunge value or are you in threat of foreclosure? Are you looking to buy but waiting for the market to level out? Patt fields your housing questions and gets a better picture of the landscape out there.

 

Guest:

Thomas Davidoff, assistant professor in the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia

CALL HIM:

 

 

2:30 – 2:58:30

OPEN

 

Jonathan Serviss
Senior Producer, Patt Morrison
Southern California Public Radio
NPR Affiliate for Los Angeles
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626.583.5171, office
415.497.2131, mobile
jserviss@kpcc.org / jserviss@scpr.org
www.scpr.org