Following four years of relative stability at around $105 per barrel, oil prices have declined sharply since June 2014. This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the sources of the recent decline in prices, and examines its macroeconomic, financial and policy implications. The recent drop...

"The authors examine the price linkages among polyester (the dominant chemical fiber), cotton (the dominant natural fiber), and crude oil (the dominant energy commodity), based on monthly data between 1980 and 2002. The modeling framework incorporates several aspects of the unit root...

"Agricultural protection, particularly in high income countries, have induced overproduction, thereby depressing world commodity prices and reducing export shares of countries which do not support agriculture. One-and perhaps the only-effective way to bring a socially acceptable and politically...