Commodities

Getting the data to regulate global banks

This September, it will be five years since President Barack Obama and other Group of 20 leaders committed to regulating the over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives markets jointly and in each of their jurisdictions.

New EU market reform: Content and possible consequences for U.S. rulemaking

Economists are still struggling to quantify the trillions of dollars of costs to the global economy of collapse and bailouts of the world largest private banks.

Negotiating oppression: A developed country approach to agricultural trade

Dodd-Frank position limits on commodity contracts: Round 2

During the more than three years since Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Financial Protection Act, financial regulators have struggled to draft, approve and implement the rules authorized by Dodd-Frank.

Commodities, agribusiness and the importance of who's telling the story

Large commodity farmers in the U.S. have done well in the past few years, with major crops reaching record prices. According to the USDA, net farm income in 2010 was up more than 20 percent from 2009, and 2011 and 2012 almost double 2009’s numbers.

Groups welcome the release of administration proposal for international food aid reform

Washington, D.C., February 26, 2013 – The below groups welcome reports that the Administration may propose helpful reforms to the U.S. food assistance program in its FY2014 budget submission to Congress.

Food crisis update: Main drivers of price volatility still not addressed

Last year international food markets suffered their third price spike in five years. The trigger was a terrible drought in the United States—a major agricultural producer and exporter. An unstable climate met low levels of international grain reserves, while U.S. ethanol gobbled up maize supplies.

Five questions for Frederick Kaufman, author of Bet the Farm: How Food Stopped Being Food

In 2010, journalist Frederick Kaufman wrote in Harper’s Magazine about how Wall Street speculators wreaked havoc with wheat markets and, in turn, helped drive the 2008-09 food price crisis.

A year of squandered opportunities to resolve the food crisis

January 31, 2013 – A drought in the United States last year sparked the third price spike in international food commodity markets in the last five years, again pushing maize, wheat, and soybean prices to record highs. Why are we still seeing such volatility six years after prices shot up in 2007? Have global leaders taken action to address the causes of this new food crisis?

Deutsche Bank and the fine art of self-exoneration

On January 19, Deutsche Bank (DB) issued “Questions and Answers on investments in agricultural commodities”.  The DB stated that after an internal examination, it was resuming investments in agricultural derivatives contracts that it had suspended since March 2011.