New retail reports by Liesl Eathington, assistant scientist in Iowa State's Department of Economics and the director of Iowa Community Indicators Program (ICIP), has found that retail sales in most Iowa regions appear to have stabilized over the past fiscal year following a substantial downturn during the recession. Iowa State's annual retail trade analysis is based on state-reported sales of goods and services subject to Iowa's statewide sales tax. Eathington found a slight growth in Iowa retail sales over the last fiscal year. Read the full article written by Mike Ferlazzo, ISU News Service, at: http://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2012/mar/IAretail

Submissions are invited for the sixth annual conference on the political economy of international organizations, to be held at the Universities of Mannheim and Heidelberg, Germany, on February 7-9, 2013. The conference brings together economists and political scientists to address political-economy issues related to international organizations such as the World Trade Organization, the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the European Union, and also other international organizations that have as yet received less attention in the academic literature.

More information available: http://www.peio.me/

More information available at: www.ias.edu/applications

Fintrac is an international consulting firm implementing agricultural projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America for USAID and other donors. We have worked for over 20 years to increase incomes and improve livelihoods for the world’s most vulnerable farm families, while also building sustainable commercial value-chains.

About the Enabling Agricultural Trade (EAT) Project: The U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Enabling Agricultural Trade (EAT) Project supports the U.S. government’s global efforts to create conditions for agricultural growth. USAID established EAT based on substantial academic and field experience suggesting that a sound legal, regulatory, and institutional environment is a pre-requisite to economic growth in the agricultural sector. EAT offers a suite of targeted and customizable analytical tools and implementation support to identify, diagnose, and reform agribusiness enabling environment (AgBEE) constraints that hinder start up and growth across the agricultural sector.

Description: Fintrac is seeking an Agribusiness Technical Lead for the USAID/ Enabling Agricultural Trade (EAT) project. S/he will apply practical, private-sector experience in agriculture to issues of policy and business climate reform. S/he will be an important source of knowledge and expertise on agriculture sector reform issues within USAID. The candidate must be a well-organized, proactive person, with the ability to represent Fintrac in large and small gatherings to private and public sector stakeholders.

The EAT project is based in Washington, D.C and will include frequent travel to developing countries.

Submit application at: http://www.fintrac.com/