The wildfires in California have consumed more than 1.6 million acres of land this year – nearly half of a million acres more than last year (Kasler, November 16 2018). The immediate devastation caused by the fires is evident – thousands of homes burned, hundreds of deaths, and many more still missing. But the burning […]
Archive | Economics
Exploring the effectiveness of two different reconstruction strategies for the areas affected by the earthquakes of September in Central Mexico: Unconditional vs conditional cash transfers
On Sept. 19, 2017, Mexico City commemorated its 32nd anniversary of rising from the debris left by its worst earthquake in modern history; the capitalinos’ resilience (residents of Mexico City) was tested anew. A 7.1 magnitude earthquake hit the capital of Mexico adding an extra struggle to a country that was recovering from a previous […]
Study shows new evidence that consumers are confused by date labels on food items
By Norbert L. W. Wilson, Ruiqing Miao and Carter Weis on August 13, 2018 in Agriculture, Consumer, Economics, Food and Nutrition
As food waste issues are attracting increasing attention from research and policy arenas, regulation changes regarding date label use on food items in the United States have been proposed because of concerns that date labels may confuse consumers about the quality and safety of food items and hence cause waste. For instance, the proposed 2016 […]
Reviewing directions in conservation policy: CSP and EQIP in the House Farm Bill
The farm bill reported by the House Ag Committee and defeated on the House floor remains in a state of limbo (H.R. 2, Agricultural and Nutrition Act of 2018). Among the changes to policy contained in H.R. 2 are significant changes to conservation policy and programs. Specifically, the House Ag Committee eliminated the Conservation Stewardship […]
Initial review of the House 2018 Farm Bill
By Jonathan Coppess, Gary Schnitkey, Nicholas Paulson and Carl Zulauf on May 9, 2018 in Economics, Policy
On Thursday, April 18, 2018, the House Agriculture Committee reported its version of the farm bill titled the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018 (House Ag Committee Press Release, April 18, 2018). The vote to report the bill to the full House was 26 to 20 and notable because the vote was partisan; no Democrats voted […]
Why they can’t all be trade surpluses
By Kathy Baylis, Steve Burak and Jonathan Coppess on April 6, 2018 in Economics, International, Policy
As the potential for a trade war with China escalates, and the rhetoric about NAFTA continues to heat up, we thought we’d step back and talk a bit about the perception underlying current political concern regarding trade: trade deficits. President Trump’s comments early in March stated that the U.S. has a deficit with almost every […]
The Japanese beef market’s lessons for trade policy
By Steve Burak, Kathy Baylis, Jonathan Coppess and Qianting Xie on February 1, 2018 in Agriculture, Commodities, Consumer, Economics, Food and Nutrition, International
For ten consecutive years, Japan has increased its meat consumption; consumption increased by 3.4 percent last year over the previous year to produce the highest level of growth in five years. Beef consumption, in particular, is expected to grow nearly 4 percent this year after two straight years of decline. Japan is already one of […]
Juggling bills may be key at-risk indicator for food insecurity
Pawning family valuables or paying one bill while letting another bill slide may be warning signs that someone is at risk for being food insecure. A new University of Illinois study uses data collected from people who visit food pantries to show that these financial coping strategies can help identify people who are very […]
The Economic thinking behind Walmart’s New Investment Strategy
Walmart, which was founded in 1962, has been the bellwether of the retail industry for over 50 years. Apparently, they are not satisfied with the current traditional retail industry, because the company is planning to rely more on its e-commerce sector. In October 2016 the investors of Walmart were informed that the company would cut […]
The risks that U.S. fuel Industry is facing under the background of climate change: in the form of a slump in fuel price
Introduction Climate change, exhibited as global warming and frequent extreme weather events, has a great impact on our world, including the U.S. fuel Industry. Recently, there has been a debate between the energy industry and public about whether or not we should price the risk from climate change in the energy production industry. According to […]