Since the mid-Nineties and until 2005 the italian construction sector experienced an exceptional expansive cycle, the most intense in the last four decades. Construction was allowed to boom by a mix of factors (demographic, financial, increase in public works expenditure) and was driven by new...

During the 2000s agricultural commodity derivatives markets were flooded by a “wall of money” coming from financial investors. In this essay I outline the main facts about the increasing presence and impact of financial investors in agricultural commodity markets and I discuss the main...

It is widely debated whether financial speculation was a significant force behind recent food price fluctuations. As a matter of fact, during the 2000s agricultural commodity derivatives markets were flooded by a ‘wall of money’ coming from financial investors. In agricultural exchanges, the...

This paper studies the correlation of agricultural prices with stock market dynamics. We discuss the possible role of financial, macroeconomic and monetary factors in driving this time-varying relation, with the aim of understanding what has caused positive correlation between agricultural...

The aim of this paper is to assess empirically whether speculative financial investments have affected wheat price dynamics in recent years. To address this issue we will (1) analyze recent agricultural price dynamics and their drivers (2) outline the process of ‘financialization’ of...