Files
Abstract
The current situation and prospects for coffee are of widespread interest to American
consumers and to those who supply them, and it is of vital interest to the many Latin
American countries that depend on coffee as a primary source of foreign exchange earnings.
The smaller per capita use of coffee in the United States in 1956 and 1957, and
the rising world production and stocks, combined to reduce prices of coffee during 1957
and early 1958. The trade, foreign producers, and foreign and U. S. Government administrators
have a continuing interest in the analysis and measurement of factors that
influence world demand and prices of coffee. The purposes of this paper are (1) to
report some research on statistical analyses of the major economic factors that influence
U. S. consumption and wholesale prices of coffee, and (2) to use these analyses in appraising
the current situation and prospective trends in coffee consumption in the United
States. This study was prepared by the author in connection with a short assignment in
February this year with the Nicaraguan Government. Their Government was interested
in the probable future expansion of the U. S. market for tropical products that can be
grown in Nicaragua.