President-Elect Joe Biden has started the process of naming cabinet nominees, beginning with the top agencies of Treasury and State. Janet Yellen will be nominated to be Secretary of the Treasury. The equity markets reacted favorably as she is a respected and known entity among the names that were floated. It gave the financial sector a boost in confidence. She was Chair of the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2018 and was Vice Chair from 2010 to 2014. Previously, she was the head of the President’s Council of Economic Advisors during the Clinton Administration and during the late 1970’s she was a staff economist at the Federal Reserve. She was chairman when the Fed started the incremental interest rate increases in December of 201...
Forecasting developments in production agriculture
On behalf of a private U.S. agricultural technology provider, WPI’s team generated an econometric model to forecast the movement of concentrated corn production north and west from the traditional U.S. Corn Belt. WPI’s model has subsequently provided quantitative support to a multi-million-dollar investment into short-season corn variety development. WPI’s methodology included a series of interviews with regional grain elevators and seed consultants. Emphasizing outreach and communication with stakeholders who possess intimate sectoral knowledge – on-the-ground insights – is a regular component of WPI’s methodologies, made possible by WPI’s ever-growing network of industry contacts.
Key Market Insights The broad market is locked in on this week’s Trump-Xi meeting in Beijing, but this is no longer just a trade summit. Increasingly, the meeting is becoming tied directly to Iran, energy security, and the growing global economic fallout from disruptions through the Strai...