Commodities

Farm Bill free fall

Just when you thought Congress couldn’t screw up the Farm Bill any worse, they surprise us all.

The Common Denominator

IATP President Jim Harkness presented the following address to the attendees of the 11th Hour Project's grantee gathering on October 11, 2012. See a video of his remarks below. Good morning.

U.S. judge thwarts commodity market reform

Last week a U.S. federal judge struck down a Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) rule designed to prevent excessive speculation in agricultural and non-agricultural commodities by Wall Street and its biggest corporate clients.

Freezing regulation while the climate heats up

One of the many ironies of the U.S. Farm Bill debate over crop insurance and revenue “assurance” programs was a tacit bipartisan agreement not to say in public four words that summarized major drivers in creating the proposed programs. The U.S.

WEBINAR: What's at Stake in the 2012 Farm Bill? Health, Innovation and Equity

Named one of "Nine Innovative Food Websites You Can't Live Without" by Forbes, IATP's What's at Stake Series takes a fresh look at seven key issues for the 2012 Farm Bill. As debate of the 2012 farm bill continues, this webinar will highlight three key issues from the IATP series: health, equity and publicly funded research.

Economic governance: A rich-country-only privilege?

You might think that the devastating impacts of commodity price volatility on global hunger would require policy debates in multiple international organizations.

Moving forward with speculation reforms

The food price crisis and global financial meltdown had many causes, but it would be hard to overstate the role of the deregulation and privatization policies that had taken root in the 1990s and 2000s. Globalization and financial “innovations” pushed by speculative investors also mean that when U.S. food and energy prices rise, they affect prices around the world.

WEBINAR: Commodity price volatility: U.S. and EU regulatory battles

Commodity price volatility driven by financial institution speculation continues to increase raw materials costs for businesses and the cost of consumer goods, particularly food and energy. U.S. commodity regulators are scheduled to vote on October 18 on an important rule to limit control of commodity contracts by financial speculators.

Wall Street wins again in weak CFTC rule

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission voted 3-2 yesterday in favor of a position-limit rule that, according to a new IATP press release, is too weak to protect consumers and producers from the wild price swings that make traders rich while increasing hunger and decreasing food access

Weak CFTC position-limit rule ineffective, unsound says IATP

Today’s Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)  3-2 vote to pass a weak position-limit rule will not suffice to prevent excessive speculation that has roiled commodity prices since at least 2006, according to the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP).