A nation that loves its coffee was treated last week to one of the muddiest cups yet brewed. The Federal Trade Commission filed a formal complaint against the New York Coffee and Sugar Exchange and eight of its members. The charge: restraining coffee trading and thereby causing prices to rise out of all proportion to supply and demand. As it had before (TIME, Aug. 9), FTC hit hard at the exchange's "restrictive" contract, which permits trading only in "Santos 4" coffee, an average grade shipped from Brazil's port of Santos and accounting for 10%...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
