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Archive | March, 2015

How Does Changing Ethanol Capacity Affect Local Corn Basis?

Over the past decade, the United States has experienced a dramatic boom in ethanol production. The rapid expansion of ethanol was largely driven by the Renewable Fuel Standards (RFS), first introduced in 2005, which mandates that 36 billion gallons of renewable fuel are produced per year by 2022, 15 billion gallons of which can come […]

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Who Benefits from Agricultural Subsidies?

Who benefits from farm subsidies? If you ask a farmer, you’ll get the answer, “I do.” Ask an economist, however, and you will get an entirely different answer. Here are quotes from some prominent economists that convey the conventional wisdom. Andrew Schmitz and Richard Just: A large share of the benefits of an agricultural subsidy […]

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Growing a Sustainable Biofuel Economy: Part 1

The Environmental Appeal of Second-Generation Biofuels Second-generation biofuels from cellulosic feedstocks that were until recently thought to be always “five years away,” are now being produced commercially. In 2014, about 18 million gallons were produced, which was substantially higher than the 432,000 gallons produced in 2013. Poet-DSM and Abengoa are two of the refineries that […]

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Income inequality and educational inequality: Comparing the U.S. and Brazil

In 2014, stories about rising inequality in the United States made headlines. In his 2014 State of the Union address, President Obama focused on inequality, saying “Inequality has deepened. Upward mobility has stalled.” A book by a French economist about inequality, Capital by Thomas Piketty, became an unexpected best seller. One of the most important […]

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