100 years of price changes

I delight in simplification. I have taken full advantage of The Economist’s ability to summarise global economic health in a single line. Now I’ve discovered another single line that captures commodity price volatility since 1900.

And here it is.
It shows bumps and dips in most of the places you would expect. But two aspects struck me instantly:

• I would have anticipated far more volatility over time.

• The last three years have been the highest and among the most extreme, despite a faltering global economic recovery.