The only problem is that current law precludes the extension of Commodity Credit Corporation agricultural export credits unless there is a reasonable prospect of repayment.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Trying to put Moscow on the dole

This year the price of Russia's main export commodity, oil, has fallen sharply.

ECONOMIST: Still most awkward partners

Many sharks perish as bycatch, but increasingly they are being hunted for their fins, a delicacy in China and a lucrative commodity. (The annual export of fins is thought to be worth about a billion dollars.) One study, published in Ecology Letters last year, estimates that between twenty-six million and seventy-three million sharks are killed for their fins every year.

NEWYORKER: Neptune��s Navy

Freer trade, private sector investment in the mining and telecom industries, plus rising commodity prices that have boosted export dollars, have begun to show signs of paying off.

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