Biden’s Non-Pivot The presidency of Donald Trump has been the most disruptive in memory, and yet he barely lost re-election. Moreover, his successor is not promising any major reversal of agriculture or trade policies. His campaign pledge and post-election comments focus solely on working more closely with allies on addressing China’s state-driven economic manipulations. Mr. Trump’s methods were ham-handed, but no one is disputing their rationale. His friends and enemies alike questioned his use of national security as the rationale for imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, but no one disputed that those markets were broken to begin with. The problem with the WTO’s appellant system was first identif...
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...
From WPI Consulting
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.