Back to the Futures

“As one of the most respected voices in agriculture, Dr. Scott Irwin has been studying, teaching, and participating in the world of commodity futures since growing up on his family farm in Iowa. There is no higher expert or more captivating storyteller to explain how these critical markets have developed over the decades while articulating the significant impact they have on the global economy, agribusiness, and everyday lives.”

Terry Duffy, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, CME Group

“As someone deeply involved in the legislative and regulatory history of the commodity futures industry, I was extremely impressed with this most interesting and behind-the-scenes background of the stories explaining the commodity futures markets. Fascinating and understandable reading for both the experts and novices in this important business. I learned a lot and really enjoyed it.”

Dan Glickman, Former U.S. Congressman and Secretary of Agriculture

“Critics of futures markets blame speculators for both price increases and price declines. Somehow, the inherent contradiction of their knee-jerk scapegoating never seems to dawn on them. Scott Irwin, a renowned agricultural economist, has spent a good part of his career dispelling misconceptions and ignorance about markets with solid research and facts. Back to the Futures chronicles these experiences, as well as providing a tour of key historical events and perplexities in futures markets. Back to the Futures provides a breezy read filled with anecdotes related to market events and the author’s accident-prone life.”

Jack Schwager, Futures Market Analyst, Trader, and Best-Selling Author of Market Wizards

“…I’d recommend that anyone involved in agriculture, raising boys, or shopping at the grocery store should immediately stop whatever they are doing and read this book. Irwin tells the story of growing up in rural Iowa, which, if his life is any indication, is fraught with near-death experiences. The stories are laugh-out-loud funny, since we know he survived long enough to write this book.

Irwin makes the case for futures markets as essential to the ability of our economy to distribute risk to those who are best able to handle that risk. He makes his case in a manner that is accessible to the general reader, but still a sophisticated explanation of how futures transfer risk and smooth the workings of our mostly market economy. When commodity prices increase, we often hear criticism of speculation. Irwin has made a career of answering those criticisms with data, logic, and good cheer, and this book is a capstone to that remarkable career. I’m glad he wrote the book and would recommend it to everyone.”

Blake Hurst, Farmer, Author, and Past President of Missouri Farm Bureau

“Scott Irwin’s lifelong fascination with buying and selling grain invigorates this economic page-turner. It’s a love letter to farm life in the Midwest, a confessional tale about fathers and sons making bad bets in the market, and a revealing, first-hand account of intellectual battles over whether those markets work for the common good. You’ll never look at corn prices in quite the same way again.”

Dan Charles, Science Journalist and Former National Public Radio Reporter

“Half memoir, half futures market primer, this delightful story of farm-kid turned world-renowned professor of commodity markets is as entertaining as it is educational.”

Jayson Lusk, Distinguished Professor and Head of the Agricultural Economics Department, Purdue University

“Scott Irwin has written the book on risk and the commodity markets that I wish had been available when I was researching Merchants of Grain more than 40 years ago. In Back to the Futures, he breaks all the molds governing writing about agriculture and economics, beginning with violating the commandment that says, "Thou shalt always be boring.”

In a brilliant stroke of imagination, he connects his heart-stopping youthful adventures on his family's farm to the risks accepted by modern commodity traders with billions of dollars at stake. The result is a page turner of a book that mixes erudite explanation, fascinating snippets from the bad old early days of the markets, and tales of a kid's country hell-raising. Admirers of Irwin's always essential economic research will never again think of him as a nerdy academic.”

Dan Morgan, Former Agriculture Reporter for The Washington Post and Author of Merchants of Grain

“Scott Irwin has penned a marvelous intellectual autobiography—complete with dirt bikes, stock cars, trucks, and tractors. Back to the Futures mixes highly entertaining personal anecdotes (mainly involving near-tragic interactions with aforesaid machinery) with serious discussions of scholarship relating to a hardy perennial in debates over commodity markets—whether speculation on futures markets distorts commodity prices.

The personal anecdotes are more than interludes: they are really parables that illustrate findings Scott discusses in the scholarship-focused chapters and how he arrived at them. In presenting these findings to a wider audience in such an entertaining fashion, Back to the Futures is an important contribution to matters that are not merely of academic interest.”

Craig Pirrong, Professor of Finance and Director of the Global Energy Management Institute, University of Houston 

“I love this book, especially how the author has weaved in his childhood memories of risk-taking. Scott explains the complex world of commodity trading in a way that is easy to understand and enjoyable to read. It is the perfect book for young people thinking of getting into the sector or for anyone looking to learn more about how food ends up on their table. Bravo, Scott, for taking this initiative and bringing it to completion.”

Jonathan Kingsman, Author of Commodity Conversations and The New Merchants of Grain

“Irwin and Peterson take us on an entertaining and wild ride to explain futures markets in all their glory. Interspersed with the risk-taking stories from an adolescent childhood centered around the farms in Iowa, they intuitively (and entertainingly) explain all about futures contracts and markets—the most established, time-honored risk-management tools and venues in the world. Risk management at its finest! A fun read, an educational gem, and well worth taking the ride for learning about futures from stories reflected in the rearview mirror.”

Jeff Harris, Gary D. Cohn Goldman Sachs Chair in Finance and former Chief Economist of the CFTC

“Academics can be a boring lot…but Irwin and Peterson break the mold with an entertaining and enlightening trip through the world of commodity futures markets. Peppered with good-humored parodies, puns, and wit, the prose easily engages the reader. The trading stories and interviews with industry giants—such as Leo Melamed—are just icing on the cake. Anyone with an interest in agriculture or futures markets will enjoy this read.”

Dwight Sanders, Professor of Agribusiness Economics, Southern Illinois University Carbondale

“I’ve worked at the Chicago Board of Trade for over 20 years and even today my family will ask, “Now what is it that you do?”…Through the eminently entertaining adventures of Scott, Jack, and Elvis, I may finally be able to answer that elusive question. If you enjoy an entertaining read and don’t mind learning a bit about markets during the process, then this book is for you too.”

Fred Seamon, Agricultural Markets Executive Director, CME Group

“Dr. Irwin, the inveterate Iowa farm boy, weaves a series of fascinating stories of youthful risk and survival into a compelling description of commodity trading and the critical role that the speculative risk-taker in futures markets plays in stabilizing the system. His scholarship, intimate knowledge of the market, its history and characters, adds a compelling level of authenticity to the perspectives that he offers. Above all, he has the courage to speak his convictions whether before a congressional committee or to a group of farmers. A real ‘page-turner’ indeed.”

Bob Easter, President Emeritus, University of Illinois

“Scott Irwin is the preeminent scholar in the area of agricultural futures markets. So, when I saw this book, I expected it to be Introduction to Futures 101. Instead, it is a fascinating autobiography about growing up in Iowa, taking extreme risks, and making mistakes trading futures. Just as one can learn and remember a lot of history from historical fiction, one can read this book and learn about futures without ever thinking of it as work.”

Dermot Hayes, Pioneer Chair in Agribusiness and the Charles F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor in Agriculture and Life Sciences, Iowa State University

“Back to the Futures…is a fun read that you’ll find difficult to put down. It’s a read that I highly recommend, for it will make a positive difference for your farm as well. Some might argue that today’s commodity markets are impossible to understand, but Irwin’s humorous stories break the commodity markets into basic, easy-to-understand principles that provide a new understanding to their value to the farm. It’s a book you’ll want on your coffee table to reference often.”

Arlan Suderman, Chief Commodities Economist, StoneX

“Jumping from the farm to the ‘trading pit’/boardroom and back, the book provides those with no prior understanding a fascinating look at the role and evolution of the futures markets. Irwin and Peterson bring to life the risks, energy, emotion, and characters that have shaped something which impacts our lives daily with the insight that only someone who has lived and studied the markets for a lifetime can provide. When you finish Back to the Futures, you will wonder how Scott Irwin is still alive, but you will also have new insights into the why, how, and where of these markets that play such a fundamental role in global commerce.”

Jay Akridge, Trustee Chair in Teaching and Learning Excellence, Provost Emeritus, Purdue University 

“Back to the Futures is a must read for anyone interested in commodity futures markets. Irwin and Peterson brilliantly weave together first-hand stories of rural life and risk-taking in explaining the important role of futures markets in our economy. As a university professor who teaches classes and conducts research in the area of futures and options markets, Back to the Futures will certainly be on the reading list for my students.”

Mark Manfredo, Professor of Agribusiness and Dean’s Council Distinguished Scholar, Arizona State University

“This book brings commodity markets to life. In his distinguished academic career, Scott Irwin has written at length about how commodity markets work, busting myths and bringing clarity. But academic publications reveal only a glimpse of his unbridled enthusiasm for the markets, which jumps out of these pages through stories of childhood shenanigans, college stunts, and mysterious gophers. Through these stories, Scott explains the inner workings of commodity markets and the things he has learned about them—things he has taught the world through his academic writing. I learned a lot from this page turner.”

Aaron Smith, DeLoach Professor of Agricultural Economics,

University of California-Davis

“Irwin is an economist and passionate defender of the futures market and speculation. This account of his life—and of his ‘lifelong quest to understand the commodity futures markets,’ as he puts it—blends first-person takes with interviews of industry leaders to highlight a business that he clearly loves.”

Emily Lambert, author of The Futures: The Rise of the Speculator and the Origins of the World’s Biggest Markets