August 25, 2018 — Real interest rates tend to have a negative effect on real prices of commodities: oil and gas, minerals, and agricultural commodities. One might hazard the prediction that US real interest rates are headed up, and therefore, other things equal, real commodity prices will decline.
(June 25, 2017) —
As the US, Mexico and Canada get ready to begin talks on the re-negotiation of NAFTA – possibly as early as August – governments are giving a lot of attention to one particular product: sugar. The outcome will predictably be a sweet deal for the US sugar industry, quite the opposite of Trump promises to “drain the swamp” of disproportionate influence in Washington by special interests.
(June 11, 2016) I recently visited Algeria and Morocco. Like so many other developing countries, they are dealing with the sharp decline in global commodity prices that has taken place over the last few years. In meetings in Algiers and Casablanca, I offered four concrete ideas for policies to help commodity-exporting countries deal with global price volatility.