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Farm Income’s Impact on the Midwest Economy
While farm income has long been an important driver of Midwestern economic activity, the influence of the agricultural sector had been waning until the boom in crop prices of 2004?13. More recently, a reversal in crop prices, along with other factors, has led incomes from crop farming to decline. Against this backdrop, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago held a conference on November 17, 2014, to examine the role of farm income in the Midwest economy.
Newsletter
Midwest Agriculture’s Ties to the Global Economy
Over a number of decades, agricultural exports have become increasingly important to the bottom line of farmers in the Midwest and other parts of the nation. Moreover, imports of food products from around the world have helped increase business activity here and enhanced the lives of U.S. consumers. On November 28, 2017, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago held a conference to explore issues surrounding agricultural trade, particularly those pertinent to the Midwest economy.
Newsletter
What Is Driving the Differences in Inflation Within the Midwest?
In this article, we explore differences in inflation dynamics across cities (and other areas) within the Midwest. We look independently at the impact of consumption patterns and price changes by expenditure categories, and find that the recent gaps in inflation across midwestern cities have existed largely because of disparities in price changes for housing and transportation, as well as differences in the consumption patterns (as captured by expenditure weights) for transportation and housing.