The EU Export Tax: Impact on U.S. Markets

ln response to high world grain prices, the European Union (EU) introduced wheat export taxes in November 1995 for the first time in more than a decade. Normally, the EU offers export subsidies to make up the difference between their high internal grain prices and world market prices. However, EU internal support prices have been reduced over the last three years as a result of policy reforms. Recent high world grain prices have exceeded the EU support prices since early in the 1995/96 crop year. Rather than let internal prices follow world market prices upward, the EU decided to protect its domestic grain users and levy an export tax to prevent internal prices [rom rising to world levels (Figure 1). The major impacts of this tax were to reduce EU wheat production and exports from what they would have been without the tax, reduce internal grain prices, and increase wheat feed use. These changes directly impact the U.S. and world wheat markets and indirectly influence feed grain markets

The design, construction and testing of the optics for a 147-cm-aperture telescope

Geodetic optics research for the Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories (AFCRL) is described. The work consisted mainly of the fabrication of the optical components for a telescope with a 152-cm-diam (60-in.) primary mirror masked down to 147-cm-diam for use by the AFCRL for a lunar ranging experiment. Among the achievements of this contract were the following: completion of the primary and secondary mirrors for a high-quality 147-cm-diam telescope system in eight months from the start of edging the primary; manufacture and testing of a unique center mount for the primary according to an AFCRL design that allowed for a thin-edged and therefore less-massive mirror; and development of a quantitative analysis of the wire test for calculating the departure of the mirror figure from the design figure quickly and accurately after each polishing step. This analysis method in conjunction with a knowledge of polishing rates for given weights and diameters of tools, mirror, and polishing materials should considerably reduce the polishing time required for future large mirrors

Outlook for U.S. Corn and Soybeans in 1996

The outlook for U.S. com and soybeans in the coming crop year, although optimistic, is filled with many uncertainties. The weather and operating conclitions under the new Farm Bill are two of many factors that will influence U.S. crop supply. This year\u27s high market prices and low beginning stock situation will influence p lanted area in the United States, and will affect the dynamics of next year\u27s markets

Comparing the House and Senate Farm Bill Proposals

Prior to the compromise just announced (see page 6), an analysis was done of the basic provisions o£ the Agricultural Reconciliation Act of 1995 (ARA95) proposed by the Committee on Agriculture in the House of Representatives, and the version from the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Ln the Senate. The bills were quite different, but both were constructed to comply with the new budget guidelines. Despite the recent compromise, the final outcome still remains uncertain

The Impact of 1996 Weather on Crop Markets

Every summer the agricultural sector anticipates the harvest and speculates on how much grain will be produced. Ac; time passes, more information is gathered about probable yields, harvested area, and production in the U.S. and the rest of the northern hemisphere. The information this year may be more critical because of the current high crop prices and low stockholding situation

The FAPRI Process of Analysis

In several past issues of the Iowa Ag Review we have written about baselines and scenarios that the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) produces. This article will clarify what FAPRI is and what it does

Senate 1996 Farm Bill Highlights

The Agricultural Reform and Improvement Act of 1996 (ARIA-96) , passed by the Senate on February 7, contained changes in provisions from ARA-95 (see from page article on ARA-95), plus numerous additions. Even though the Senate bill is not yet law, its provisions illustrate new paths that the Congressional leadership are taking for U .5. agricultural policy. Important modifications in programs or provisions are highlighted below. Note that the new term for transition payments is flexibility contract payments

Farm Freedom or Freedom to Farm?

Two proposals have surfaced in the U.S. House of Representatives with similar names but very different implications. The Farm Freedom Act of 1995, introduced by urban members as H.R. 2010, is essentially a phase-out of current programs over five years

Quantum Chaos of Bogoliubov Waves for a Bose-Einstein Condensate in Stadium Billiards

We investigate the possibility of quantum (or wave) chaos for the Bogoliubov excitations of a Bose-Einstein condensate in billiards. Because of the mean field interaction in the condensate, the Bogoliubov excitations are very different from the single particle excitations in a non-interacting system. Nevertheless, we predict that the statistical distribution of level spacings is unchanged by mapping the non-Hermitian Bogoliubov operator to a real symmetric matrix. We numerically test our prediction by using a phase shift method for calculating the excitation energies.Comment: minor change, 4 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. Let

Coherence loss and revivals in atomic interferometry: A quantum-recoil analysis

The coherence effects induced by external photons coupled to matter waves inside a Mach-Zehnder three-grating interferometer are analyzed. Alternatively to atom-photon entanglement scenarios, the model considered here only relies on the atomic wave function and the momentum shift induced in it by the photon scattering events. A functional dependence is thus found between the observables, namely the fringe visibility and the phase shift, and the transversal momentum transfer distribution. A good quantitative agreement is found when comparing the results obtained from our model with the experimental data.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figure