We purpose a novel explanation for the observed increase in the correlation of commodity prices over the past decade. In contrast to theories that rely on the increased influence of financial speculators, we show that price correlation can increase as a result of a decline in the interest rate....

The decade prior to the Great Recession saw a boom in global trade and rising transportation costs. High-yielding commodity exporters' currencies appreciated, boosting carry trade profits. The Global Recession sharply reversed these trends. We interpret these facts with a two-country general...

Commodity producing corporations have trillions of dollars in outstanding debt. In that context, the bust in commodity prices has raised concerns about the sustainability of this debt and its systemic impacts. But so far the literature lacks estimates of how sensitive is this corporate debt to...

This paper examines the contribution of market expectations to commodity price dynamics. It proposes a dynamic competitive storage framework with an expectations shock explicitly along with concurrent shocks to study the commodity price movements. This allows for a more refined analysis of the...

Venezuelaamp;apos;s agricultural sector is heavily regulated and protected. As part of structural adjustment, the government is considering major reform of its agricultural trade policies. The strategy is to introduce competition into the economy by removing government price controls and...

In recent years, fluctuations in such macroeconomic variables as interest rates and exchange rates appear to have significantly affected primary commodity prices. This paper studies the relationship between commodity prices and various macroeconomic variables. It focuses particularly on interest...