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Sorry, but that's not how commodities markets work. Commodity futures are not appreciating assets and neither are the commodities themselves. The contracts have expiries and are not long-term stores of value.

Just because something is traded doesn't make it an appreciating asset. In the case of commodities, they're typically traded as risk management instruments, not something that inherently provides returns.

If government policy was designed so that the price of food was outstripping income growth, that would definitely be a problem.

why does the outcome have to be due to the design of government policy? Why can't it just be a consequence of the free interaction of people?

Because everyone told me to blame the government.

Because government policy heavily influences the price of housing, which is an essential good?

Because the government:

1. Manipulates interest rates directly affecting house prices

2. Changes tax rates depending on housing (mortgage interest)

3. Buys mortgages

4. Zones areas which can restrict or increase supply based on policy.

Yes, if they didn’t do any of these, people wouldn’t blame government policy and we’d see what a functioning market results in.

Which works nothing like the housing market.