Baltic warmth
One evening five years ago, an American Public Radio programme came on RTE Choice. Susan Lee, an economist, explained the significance of something called the Baltic Dry Index. It was hardly earth shattering stuff, or was it?
What was the Baltic Dry Index about? Ms Lee explained:
…Essentially the Baltic Dry tracks the average daily price for shipping dry bulk like coal, iron ore, wheat and soybeans. There are three things that make it such a good leading indicator. One, the index looks at raw materials, so it captures activity