Tragedy and market prices

Before [the recent incident] truck drivers [in Fallujah] were charging a $150 surcharge per delivery. In the last 24 hours it’s risen to $500,” said a British site manager. He said Iraqi construction workers at the site, shipped in from Baghdad, had threatened to put down their tools if they did not receive an immediate rise of more than 20 percent.

That is from today’s Financial Times, “US Army Promises Punishment and Pacification,” here is the link, though the numbers are less specific in the on-line version.