The Economic Perspective 5/23/2025

The Latest Trending Economic, Environmental and Infrastructure News Curated for You by The Balmoral Group

The Balmoral Group provides practical, professional and precise Economics, Data Analytics, and Engineering Consulting services and is part of a globally integrated team.

Happy Friday!

And good afternoon! A lot going on as we head into summer, with new summer interns joining us this week and lots of conference activity.

This week The Balmoral Group (TBG) team members Amy Bainbridge and Cortney Cortez attended the Pacific Northwest Regional Economic Conference to discuss threats from coastal erosion in the Northwest and other climate and environmental related risks in the area. More information can be found here.

TBG President Valerie Seidel, and team member Laila Racevskis will be attending the NASA Biodiversity and Ecological Conservation next week in Washington D.C. They will be discussing research done by TBG on the impacts of workshops conducted on the use of satellite data in coastal resource management across the Gulf States.

Beginning June 3rd Valerie, Laila, and Dan Dourte will be speaking at the Florida Wildlife Corridor's Corridor Connect Summit, about our work in Protecting Private Lands and Innovative Funding. More information and tickets can be found and purchased here.

In addition, our interns curated articles this week on FDACS investment in infrastructure, AI drone usage in fertilization, new artificial reef installations in Miami, and more! Our data visualization presents price changes in the Brent Crude Oil market. 

Please feel free to forward this to anyone you think would be interested. If you’d like to view previous editions please click here, or to subscribe please click here!

Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!

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FDACS Announces Infrastructure Investments for FL Communities

Around $5 million in strategic grant awards were announced recently by Commissioner Wilton Simpson. Communities such as Greenville, Mariana, Cottondale and others are expected to receive part of the grant funding to support energy efficient upgrades at publicly owned water and wastewater treatment facilities. Read more here

Construction Materials See Increase in Price

Construction Dive reports steel mill product prices see a 5.9% increase, while copper wires and cables prices see a 5.0% increase over the past month. With a 25% tariff still imposed on steel and aluminum imports and China imports resuming, it could cause an increase in shipping prices. SteelBenchmarker estimates HRB, CRC, and Plates on average have changed about -1%, 14%, and 0%, respectively. Read more here.

AI Drones Assist Farmers with Fertilization

Recent research conducted by the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agriculture (UF/IFAS) shows that remote sensing imagery captured by AI drones can help farmers optimize the use of nitrogen fertilizers. Florida’s distinct geological characteristics cause nutrients to move through soil quickly, leading farmers to be uncertain of the necessary amount of fertilizer to sustain their crops. Collecting images with multispectral band cameras and utilizing artificial intelligence to process them allowed researchers to better monitor crop growth and health. This technological advancement will assist farmers with optimizing nitrogen fertilizer application. Read more here

Construction Projects Delays Increasing

The April 2025 reading of ConstructConnect’s Project Stress Index (PSI), which measures the level of nonresidential and multifamily preconstruction projects that have experienced a delayed bid date, been placed on hold, or abandoned in the last 30 days, is up 10% compared to December 2024. Delayed bid activity rose 4.6% in April 2025 compared to the previous month, while project abandonments increased 1.5% and on-hold activity declined 2%. Read more here.

U.S. Climate Pullback Threatens Planned Debt-for-Nature Deals

Billions of dollars in debt deals aimed at protecting ecosystems all over the world are at risk of losing support. In recent years the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation has been a key player in providing political risk insurance for over half the deals done, accounting for 90% of $6 billion in swapped debt. However, these deals are currently at risk as the US government pulls out of major climate agreements. Angola and Zambia both have plans currently that may need to be scrapped or reworked amid changes in US climate policy. Zambia was recently looking at a debt swap aimed at helping its national parks that are home to 40% of Africa’s elephants. Read more here and here.

New Miami Beach Underwater Art Installation Aims to Help Coral Thrive

A 7-mile-long art installation called The Reefline, is being installed off Miami Beach with the goal of expanding support for reefs as they continue to be threatened by climate change and other environmental changes. Artificial reefs are not a new concept, but The Reefline will help rescue dislodged climate-resilient corals whose clones will be locked on to the project’s planned hybrid reef. Lab grown coral will be dispersed accelerating decades of coral growth, helping revitalize Florida reefs and protect habitat for fish and other wildlife. Read more here and here.

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Data Visualization of the Week

Brent Crude Oil Prices see 4-YR Low

With the concerns of decreasing demand and increased supply in the Brent Crude Oil market, prices have hit a 4-year low of $60/bbl, which has been decreasing since the beginning of the year. January saw a high of $82/bbl with a steady decline through March, followed by a further decline of $12 per bbl in the month of April alone. Today oil prices are sitting at about $64/bbl, a slight increase from the $60/bbl low reported by Bloomberg. Read more here.