Friday Shorts
Non-Meat: In a first, a Europe-based company has sought EU approval to market lab-grown meat, in this case fake foie gras. Some member states have already banned such products. While lab-grown meat remains expensive, and plant-based meat substitutes have faced declining popularity, the increase...
Trump versus Harris Trade Policy; Africa Shines; Trade and the Environment
Trump versus Harris Trade Policy While trade policy analysts assess the future of their vocation under either a Trump or Harris presidency, there is not a lot of uncertainty. Mr. Trump has already advertised his intentions to raise tariffs. He views the U.S. trade deficit as the barometer of ho...
U.S. Policy Battle; WTO Policy Battle; EU Policy Battle
U.S. Policy Battle The two major parties are past the battle over President Biden’s age and should move on to the policy differences. Democrats will try to take their own problem of Biden’s age and apply it to Trump but it is likely to have less salience. Instead, the election will...
Weekend Reading Insights
Because the information superhighway is tl;dr, we did the work for you and summarized the most relevant. Economic Growth: It is not just the result of building tangible things but making use of new ideas. It is relentless technological progress. Economist Daniel Susskind Trade Flows: Water foll...
Biden Drops Out 107 Days Before Election: What Now?
The 2024 election cycle has been unique from the outset, and it just got more so with President Joe Biden opting to step aside. This came after more than three weeks of a crescendo of calls from within the Democrat party for the President to drop out of the race. The trigger was Biden’s d...
Doubling Down on Protectionism; Conflicting CAP Goals
Doubling Down on Protectionism Typically, the party platforms crafted every four years by Republicans and Democrats are equally meaningless. Some of their policy prescriptions become codified but many do not. But speakers at this week’s Republican Convention are leaving no doubt that &ldq...
No Olive Branch; Farm Price Charade
No Olive Branch In 2018, the U.S. began imposing 30-44 percent antidumping and countervailing duties on ripe olives originating in Spain. The EU was aghast since it implied that farm payments could be countervailed. Brussels challenged the duties in the WTO dispute settlement process and won. T...
Trump Picks JD Vance as Running Mate
On the eve of the Republican national nominating convention, Former President Trump has picked freshman Ohio Senator JD Vance, a one-time critic, to be his running mate. There is an element of generational balance; Vance is 39, Trump is 78. Ideologically, Vance who was endorsed by Trump in the...
Food Security Angst; More Trade Agreements; Ag Regains EU Power
Food Security Angst Norway announced that it would spend $6 million a year for five years to build up a 60–75-thousand-ton grain reserve, or a three-month supply. The head of the Olam agricultural trading warned of a potential future food war. Supply chains are fragile, countries are erec...
Farm Bill Reassessment; Von der Leyen Threads Needle; Trade Agreements are Dead
Farm Bill Reassessment The chance of reauthorizing the farm bill this year was already looking unlikely but now it has shifted that way for new reasons. A House Agriculture Committee approved bill pleased farm groups but faced a gauntlet from food assistance groups and others on the political l...
SCOTUS Regulatory Ruling Already Having Impact
On 5 July, WPI reported that the recent Supreme Court decision on Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, which overturned the so-called “Chevron deference” whereby courts were to defer to agencies interpretations of ambiguous legislative intent, could have significant impacts on fede...
PRC GMO in USA; Food Aid Dependency; CFTC Musical Chairs
PRC GMO in USA Members of Congress on the House Select Committee on China are furious at USDA for moving forward with approval of a biotech soybean developed by China’s QiBiodesign. China has refused to approve for domestic planting GMO’s that have been develop by Western companies...
Friday Shorts
Non-Meat: In a first, a Europe-based company has sought EU approval to market lab-grown meat, in this case fake foie gras. Some member states have already banned such products. While lab-grown meat remains expensive, and plant-based meat substitutes have faced declining popularity, the increase...
Trump versus Harris Trade Policy; Africa Shines; Trade and the Environment
Trump versus Harris Trade Policy While trade policy analysts assess the future of their vocation under either a Trump or Harris presidency, there is not a lot of uncertainty. Mr. Trump has already advertised his intentions to raise tariffs. He views the U.S. trade deficit as the barometer of ho...
U.S. Policy Battle; WTO Policy Battle; EU Policy Battle
U.S. Policy Battle The two major parties are past the battle over President Biden’s age and should move on to the policy differences. Democrats will try to take their own problem of Biden’s age and apply it to Trump but it is likely to have less salience. Instead, the election will...
Weekend Reading Insights
Because the information superhighway is tl;dr, we did the work for you and summarized the most relevant. Economic Growth: It is not just the result of building tangible things but making use of new ideas. It is relentless technological progress. Economist Daniel Susskind Trade Flows: Water foll...
Biden Drops Out 107 Days Before Election: What Now?
The 2024 election cycle has been unique from the outset, and it just got more so with President Joe Biden opting to step aside. This came after more than three weeks of a crescendo of calls from within the Democrat party for the President to drop out of the race. The trigger was Biden’s d...
Doubling Down on Protectionism; Conflicting CAP Goals
Doubling Down on Protectionism Typically, the party platforms crafted every four years by Republicans and Democrats are equally meaningless. Some of their policy prescriptions become codified but many do not. But speakers at this week’s Republican Convention are leaving no doubt that &ldq...
No Olive Branch; Farm Price Charade
No Olive Branch In 2018, the U.S. began imposing 30-44 percent antidumping and countervailing duties on ripe olives originating in Spain. The EU was aghast since it implied that farm payments could be countervailed. Brussels challenged the duties in the WTO dispute settlement process and won. T...
Trump Picks JD Vance as Running Mate
On the eve of the Republican national nominating convention, Former President Trump has picked freshman Ohio Senator JD Vance, a one-time critic, to be his running mate. There is an element of generational balance; Vance is 39, Trump is 78. Ideologically, Vance who was endorsed by Trump in the...
Food Security Angst; More Trade Agreements; Ag Regains EU Power
Food Security Angst Norway announced that it would spend $6 million a year for five years to build up a 60–75-thousand-ton grain reserve, or a three-month supply. The head of the Olam agricultural trading warned of a potential future food war. Supply chains are fragile, countries are erec...
Farm Bill Reassessment; Von der Leyen Threads Needle; Trade Agreements are Dead
Farm Bill Reassessment The chance of reauthorizing the farm bill this year was already looking unlikely but now it has shifted that way for new reasons. A House Agriculture Committee approved bill pleased farm groups but faced a gauntlet from food assistance groups and others on the political l...
SCOTUS Regulatory Ruling Already Having Impact
On 5 July, WPI reported that the recent Supreme Court decision on Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, which overturned the so-called “Chevron deference” whereby courts were to defer to agencies interpretations of ambiguous legislative intent, could have significant impacts on fede...
PRC GMO in USA; Food Aid Dependency; CFTC Musical Chairs
PRC GMO in USA Members of Congress on the House Select Committee on China are furious at USDA for moving forward with approval of a biotech soybean developed by China’s QiBiodesign. China has refused to approve for domestic planting GMO’s that have been develop by Western companies...