Journal of Economic Literature
Book Reviews
2026-09-01
John T. Cuddington of Colorado School of Mines reviews “A Handbook of Primary Commodities in the Global Economy” by Marian Radetzki,. The EconLit Abstract of the reviewed work begins “Examines the increasingly crucial role of commodities in the world economy and considers pertinent issues surrounding international commodity markets. Discusses the historical framework; the geography of commodity production and trade; comparative advantage and trade policy distortions; price formation and price trends in commodities; the commodity exchanges, commodity investments, and speculation; the economics of exhaustible resource depletion; fears of, and measures to assure, supply security; producer cartels in international commodity markets; public ownership in primary commodity production; and the monoeconomies--issues raised by heavy dependence on commodity production and exports. Radetzki is Professor of Economics at Lulea University of Technology. Index.”