Session 25 Energy, Metals, Crops: Can Commodities Price Spikes Spark Inflation?
Oil, natural gas, steel, copper, corn and other commodity prices soared since 2004, yet inflation stayed tame. What’s in store for these inputs? Will it make a difference to the broader economy? Anyone concerned about energy, commodities, trade, inflation, forecasting, and economic policy should be interested in this session.
Kevin Swift, American Chemistry Council, moderator
Earl Sweet, BMO Capital Markets
Robert Young, American Farm Bureau Federation
Presentations
Links of Interest
Speakers
Kevin Swift
American Chemistry Council
A native of Buffalo, New York, Dr. Swift is the chief economist at the American Chemistry
Council (ACC) in Arlington, Virginia where he is responsible for economic and other analyses
dealing with markets, raw materials, trade, tax, energy, and competition and innovation, as well
as monitoring business conditions and identifying emerging trends for the domestic and global
chemical sector. He is an authority on the global chemical industry and his research and
analyses are critical to decision-making by executives and business managers through out the
industry.
Dr. Swift disseminates economic and societal contributions of the business of
chemistry and general information about the industry to ACC member companies, the media,
Wall Street analysts, the academic community and the public in general
Prior to joining the American Chemistry Council, Dr. Swift held executive and senior level
positions at several business information/database companies, directing business research,
forecasting, and consulting efforts as well as domestic and international business forecasting
services and related on-line databases. He also conducted industrial market research and
related projects. Dr. Swift started his career at Dow Chemical USA
.
Dr. Swift is a member of the National Association for Business Economics (NABE) and is a
member of NABE's panel of 40 professional forecasters. He is also a member of the Harvard
Discussion Group of Industrial Economists and is a participant in the Philadelphia Federal
Reserve Bank's forecasters' survey. Dr. Swift is also a member of the Commercial Development
and Marketing Association (CDMA) and the Société de Chimie Industrielle. He has authored
articles in such diverse journals as Business Economics, Chemistry Business, Chimica Oggi,
Cost Engineering, and Hydrocarbon Processing and has appeared on Bloomberg TV and
Nightly Business Report.
Dr. Swift is a graduate of Ashland University with a BA degree and a graduate of Case Western Reserve University with a MA degree in Economics. He is also a graduate of Anglia Polytechnic University with a DBA (doctorate in business administration) degree and has completed the Tax Analysis and Revenue Forecasting Program and other studies at Harvard University as well as studies at the University of Oxford. Dr. Swift is an adjunct instructor of business economics at the University of Mary Washington.
Earl Sweet
BMO Capital Markets
Robert Young
American Farm Bureau Federation
Bob joined American Farm Bureau Federation in 2003 as the Chief Economist, coordinating the activities of the Economic Analysis Team.
Prior to coming to Farm Bureau, Young was Co-Director of the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) from 1991 through 2003. Bob also served as an associate professor in Agricultural Economics at the University of Missouri.
While at FAPRI, Bob helped to develop an analysis team in the Republic and North Ireland, establishing the FAPRI-Ireland partnership, a consortia of government and university based analysts who now provide analytical support to the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Before becoming the Co-Director of FAPRI, Bob served as the Chief Economist of the United State Senate Committee on Agriculture from 1987 through 1991. There he was active in the development of the 1990 Farm Bill as well as various budget and disaster assistance bills.
Bob has a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Missouri, with a B.S. and M.S. in Atmospheric Sciences from the University of Missouri as well.
Bob and his wife Victoria reside in Graysville, Maryland.
