Chinese technology company Yuanben and Maritime Silk Road Platform, part of China's Zhuozhi Logistics Group, have signed an agreement to provide blockchain services for global maritime freight.

Productivity gains in the U.S. accelerated by more than expected to the fastest pace since 2015 while labor costs fell, amid an economic-growth pickup supported by tax cuts and federal spending, a Labor Department report showed Wednesday.

Doug Saathoff, whose great-grandfather began farming around Trumbull, Neb., in the late 1800s, planted his first soybean in 1996 and hasn’t lost money since. Even droughts haven’t hurt because there’s plenty of underground water.

The invaluable IGM Forum poses policy questions to a representative panel of economists. The goal is to provide a snapshot of the professional consensus on various issues, which is important because advocacy groups — mainly on the right — combined with media “balance” often conveys the impression of division where there really isn’t any.

Last year, Brazilian farmer Gustavo Lopes sized up his sugarcane plantation against his soybean fields.

American factories are running short of parts.