Financial Transparency Coalition

Every time I ride my bike by a corn field inOregon—full and glowing—I feel a little bit thankful. I am thankful for our mild summer heat, this year and others. Thankful forOregon’s efforts to create a more sustainable food system. And particularly thankful that I live in country where record high temperatures don’t affect my ability to feed myself. It’s not true everywhere. Record heat across the U.S. Midwest has battered corn crops, making it likely this year’s harvest will be one of the lowest in years—and sent prices soaring. As a result, consumers in the United States will have...

There is a lot about the world that defies explanation. But if we do know one thing it’s that the world is a complicated place. That answers aren’t always obvious. That you have to look at short-run and long-run dynamics, with the full inter-play of all the forces, to truly begin to understand why things in our world happen as they do. The tragic famine that struck Somalia this summer is no exception to this rule, which occurred as East Africa faced one its worst droughts in 60 years, precipitated by dangerously low rainfall, depleting food supplies, and rising...