The study looked at whether commodity futures prices can predict inflation. It found that the US deflation during the Great Depression was not fully expected by economic actors. Previous studies suggested that real interest rates could explain the Great Depression beyond just money issues. However, these studies didn't consider where the data came from. The analysis showed that agricultural markets adjusted to deflation expectations by the end of 1930. This means that commodity futures markets like the Chicago Board of Trade shouldn't be used to challenge the classical explanation of the Great Depression.