Cahiers Redux – Politicians Recoil
The Cahiers de doléances [or kaje for short] were the pre-French revolution (1789) lists of societal complaints. The collective disappointments of the clergy, the nobility, and the rest of society too. Nothing has changed. Documents of the time cite the criticisms as: government waste, i...
Big is Bad; Big is Uncertain; Texas is Big
Big is Bad President Joe Biden has a popular proposal, increase taxes on less than 800 billionaires in the U.S. If some people worry about politics for sale, it still takes votes. Sometimes that happens within a class. Divide and conquer. The EU’s proposed relaxation of GAEC production ob...
Squeaky Wheel; EATS Ugly
Squeaky Wheels Farmers in Europe have been on a rampage for months and it is good that EU political leaders are responding to the complaints. Squeaky wheels get the grease because they are high-pitched and shrill, but sometimes grease is not the cure and instead it requires a whole new set of b...
China’s Veiled Data; Unveiled Livestock Emissions
China’s Veiled Data Some agricultural analysts in the West have noted that Chinese data reporting in the sector can go missing, fail to be consistent, or be even outright false in order to better comport with Beijing’s policy mandates. Now the Financial Times notes that the problem...
Bogus Problem; Radicalism Backlash
Bogus Problem Reinforcing the problem asserted by USDA’s political leadership, the Economic Research Service highlighted Census of Agriculture data showing that most losses of farms over the past decade have been small operations, while there was an increase in the largest sized farms. Se...
Biden Dictates Prices; Dictating Standards; Dictating to Meat
Biden Dictates Prices President Joe Biden tried to position himself in last night’s State of the Union address as the bulwark against the rising tide of threats to democracy. Then he dictated to the banking industry how much they can charge for credit card late fees, threatened action aga...
Food Wins; Stating the Obvious
Food Wins Commercial food workers hate fast line speeds at meat processors because it makes them work harder and reduces the required number of workers. Animal rights activists hate faster line speeds at meat packers because more animals get slaughtered. The Biden Administration is certainly su...
Katy Bar the Door; Pursuing Food Sovereignty; USMCA Expansion
Katy Bar the Door Malaysia had filed a WTO dispute settlement case against the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive, arguing it is prejudicil in limiting the amount of imported palm oil that could qualify under the scheme. Brussels has pursued other ways to limit imports of palm oil from South...
White House Hypocrisy; Support for Thailand; Green Protectionism; The Real Foe
White House Hypocrisy The economy, and specifically inflation, is one of four top issues dogging President Biden’s reelection campaign and the White House has a solution. It is forming a multiagency “strike force” to curb “unfair and illegal” pricing. Most sellers...
MC13 Unsurprisingly Disappoints
USTR is spinning that progress was made at the WTO’s ministerial in Abu Dhabi that ended over the weekend, claiming progress on revitalizing the dispute settlement process, though arriving at no conclusion. There was an extension of the duty-free provision on ecommerce, though even that h...
Europe’s Mantel; Trade-less Trade Advisor
Europe’s Mantel Sans Viande: In three months, France will ban the use of “meat” when referring to meat alternative products. Since profits are in the adjective, meaning consumers will pay a premium for claims-based products such as geographic indicators, farmers in France have...
“Healthy” Food Slows Ag Approps
Last Friday, WPI reported on the status of the appropriations process; Congress has until Friday of this week to pass four appropriations bills, including the one funding agriculture and other agencies. If funding lapses, agencies like USDA will be unable to open on Monday 4 March. House Speake...
Cahiers Redux – Politicians Recoil
The Cahiers de doléances [or kaje for short] were the pre-French revolution (1789) lists of societal complaints. The collective disappointments of the clergy, the nobility, and the rest of society too. Nothing has changed. Documents of the time cite the criticisms as: government waste, i...
Big is Bad; Big is Uncertain; Texas is Big
Big is Bad President Joe Biden has a popular proposal, increase taxes on less than 800 billionaires in the U.S. If some people worry about politics for sale, it still takes votes. Sometimes that happens within a class. Divide and conquer. The EU’s proposed relaxation of GAEC production ob...
Squeaky Wheel; EATS Ugly
Squeaky Wheels Farmers in Europe have been on a rampage for months and it is good that EU political leaders are responding to the complaints. Squeaky wheels get the grease because they are high-pitched and shrill, but sometimes grease is not the cure and instead it requires a whole new set of b...
China’s Veiled Data; Unveiled Livestock Emissions
China’s Veiled Data Some agricultural analysts in the West have noted that Chinese data reporting in the sector can go missing, fail to be consistent, or be even outright false in order to better comport with Beijing’s policy mandates. Now the Financial Times notes that the problem...
Bogus Problem; Radicalism Backlash
Bogus Problem Reinforcing the problem asserted by USDA’s political leadership, the Economic Research Service highlighted Census of Agriculture data showing that most losses of farms over the past decade have been small operations, while there was an increase in the largest sized farms. Se...
Biden Dictates Prices; Dictating Standards; Dictating to Meat
Biden Dictates Prices President Joe Biden tried to position himself in last night’s State of the Union address as the bulwark against the rising tide of threats to democracy. Then he dictated to the banking industry how much they can charge for credit card late fees, threatened action aga...
Food Wins; Stating the Obvious
Food Wins Commercial food workers hate fast line speeds at meat processors because it makes them work harder and reduces the required number of workers. Animal rights activists hate faster line speeds at meat packers because more animals get slaughtered. The Biden Administration is certainly su...
Katy Bar the Door; Pursuing Food Sovereignty; USMCA Expansion
Katy Bar the Door Malaysia had filed a WTO dispute settlement case against the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive, arguing it is prejudicil in limiting the amount of imported palm oil that could qualify under the scheme. Brussels has pursued other ways to limit imports of palm oil from South...
White House Hypocrisy; Support for Thailand; Green Protectionism; The Real Foe
White House Hypocrisy The economy, and specifically inflation, is one of four top issues dogging President Biden’s reelection campaign and the White House has a solution. It is forming a multiagency “strike force” to curb “unfair and illegal” pricing. Most sellers...
MC13 Unsurprisingly Disappoints
USTR is spinning that progress was made at the WTO’s ministerial in Abu Dhabi that ended over the weekend, claiming progress on revitalizing the dispute settlement process, though arriving at no conclusion. There was an extension of the duty-free provision on ecommerce, though even that h...
Europe’s Mantel; Trade-less Trade Advisor
Europe’s Mantel Sans Viande: In three months, France will ban the use of “meat” when referring to meat alternative products. Since profits are in the adjective, meaning consumers will pay a premium for claims-based products such as geographic indicators, farmers in France have...
“Healthy” Food Slows Ag Approps
Last Friday, WPI reported on the status of the appropriations process; Congress has until Friday of this week to pass four appropriations bills, including the one funding agriculture and other agencies. If funding lapses, agencies like USDA will be unable to open on Monday 4 March. House Speake...