Someday I would like somebody to map all this out for me. I know it happened, I just don't know why or how.
Covid shut everything down, all around the world, factories, mines, distribution networks, etc, and had a detrimental effect on supply chains of everything.
It created the opportunity Putin needed to attack Ukraine, even though he wasn't ready, militarily, for the war that came about because of it.
He saw an opportunity for "surprise," even though he made several fients, false starts, which he claimed were "war games," until they weren't.
In doing so, the world had to scramble to start up again, in the middle of a pandemic.
By the time they realized what was going on, and the real danger presented, commodities of all types had become scarce, which in turn drove up the prices as demands increased.
I don't see prices on anything coming down, unless there is a world wide depression.
All of the world's major economies have devalued their currencies to make their National Debt affordable, along with the hopes it will encourage economic growth, which will keep up with burgeoning world populations, and they've allowed the effectiveness of their militaries to degrade.
In the past, this situation has always led to war. Whether or not they will be able to avoid it this time??????????
I was watching a well known/respected, international advisor on BBC a year ago. He stated the only reason the world wasn't plunged into a catastrophic war during Covid, was the condition, quality, and size of the US arsenals.
He stated, "When the US is no longer willing to foot the bill, or provide the equipment to deter war, or just no longer has the means to do it, everything changes."
IMHO, he hit the nail on the head. Right around that time, most of the nations around the world, at least started to build up their military reserves and look at rearming.
There's no way, civilian shooters can keep up to the demands of their nation's military, and there's no way the factories producing the components, can afford to divert production away from the military contracts.
So, combine all of that together, and there is much more to it, than there is time or room to spell it out for you here, you reach the point we're at today.