Simultaneous revolutions swept Europe in 1848, in the aftermath of crop failures whose most notorious manifestation was the Irish famine. Price rises have been a major trigger of the discontent this year in the Middle East and North Africa.
粮价的影响往往不限于一国。1848年，欧洲各地同时爆发革命，导火索就是当年的普遍歉收，最突出的代表是爱尔兰大饥荒。而今年中东和北非的大众抗议也是由粮价上涨引发的。尽管埃及和突尼斯的经济颇有增长，民众却不得不付更多的钱买面包。