Brexit, Outmigration & Rotting Cornwall Crops
" Erm, we didn't really mean it, mate. " Surely, this must be the dumbest Brexit headline yet. Cornwall in the United Kingdom is a rural community which has felt left out by the rest of…
Showing posts with the label Agriculture
Economic Folly: Thai Rice Subsidies Never Die
The importance of rice production to the Thai economy cannot be overstated. In the past, I have discussed [ 1 , 2 ] the current ruling junta's efforts to punish the overthrown Yingluck Shinawatra…
The End: Thailand Dumps Yingluck-Era Rice Hoard
Getting rid of Thailand's massive Yingluck-era rice stockpiles. Although political polarization has been a constant feature of Thai politics, the Shinawatra clan--big brother Thaksin and little s…
Greece and Russia's Fruit 'n' Veg-for-Gas Deal (Sort Of)
Not quite the Commanding Heights: Citrus for the Putin. A lack of export diversity characterizes any number of economically troubled nations, and that holds for Greece and Russia. On Tuesday, Greek P…
Sympathy for the Monsanto: An Unenviable PR Job
Anti-Monsanto campaigners have fun with Photoshop. Environmentally-conscious readers will no doubt be aware of the controversies surrounding Monsanto. If there ever was a poster child for The Evils o…
USA vs Russia: Real Victims are the Chickens
The victims we know so well / They shine in your eyes when they kiss and tell. The main difficulty for the United States in applying trade sanctions against Russia is that, well, there is not really…
Can LatAm Regain Choco Mkt Share Lost to Africa?
History 101: Sharing chocos with white people wasn't such a marvy idea. Murder, pillage, disease and conquest followed early American empires giving Europeans a taste of chocolate (see Jared Dia…
Pssst...Anyone Notice Done Japan-Australia FTA?
While the Trans-Pacific Partnership is on hold partly due to Japanese intransigence--more on this later--two TPP negotiators have nevertheless concluded a bilateral deal. The Japanese get improved m…
Buying Thai Rice: PRC Now Cares About Corruption?
Yinglucks legacy is a colossal waste of food and money China is famous for espousing a policy of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries. This, of course, is in contrast to Wester…
Business as Usual: Thailand Back in Crisis Mode
There is an anarchic quality to Thai politics that has to be seen to be believed. At regular intervals, mass protests, military coups and other forms of upheaval toss out leaders whether they are dem…
Does US Discourage PRC FDI? Uncle Sam Sez No
This is a follow-up to a recent post about the Chinese food conglomerate Shuanghui International attempting to purchase US pork producer Smithfield. If it pushes through, this deal will be the large…
Subsidies or Thailand's Descent Into Egyptification
One of the biggest (fiscal) drags on the Egyptian economy is its continued use of massive subsidies for food and energy. At a touch less than a third of the national budget, it eats up a lot of mone…
'Like Saudi Leaving OPEC': Russians Ditch Potash Cartel
Potash Corp of Saskatchewan Share Price Fertilizer may not be the sexiest of industries, but make no mistake: Given its widespread agricultural applications which span virtually the entire globe, nea…
Badluck Shinawatra's Failed Global Thai Rice Empire
I suppose that Thai PM Yingluck Shinawatra has received as much grief over her first name as Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan. But oh, Yingluck, how your name has proven to be unworthy of your fa…
Is the 2013 US Farm Bill "WTO Legal"? Nope
Ho hum--another US Farm Bill, another round of fat agricultural subsidies for American producers that hurt farmers in the developing world. Just as Brazil successfully sued the US for its cotton subs…
Agrodiplomacy: PRC-Ukraine $3B Loans-for-Corn
It's no big secret that Ukraine has been on the ropes financially for the past few years. Alike every sort of commodity exporter nowadays, however, it's found itself in luck as the the world&…
Thailand Still Dreams About an 'OPEC of Rice'
I guess there are few truly novel ideas in international political economy. Since the formation of OPEC, developing nations have envied its perceived success in buoying oil prices. As such, there hav…
Speculation, Food Prices & Firm Reputation Risk
In any number of commodity classes, there is the accusation that speculators and other sorts of profiteers are driving up prices to a degree unwarranted by economic fundamentals. You often hear this …
Is Being Fat Related to Being Dumb? The US Case
Being apart from the Anglo-Saxon blogging crowd allows me to probe questions they are generally uncomfortable with but need to be asked. Yesterday we considered the general unresponsiveness of Anglo…