During the late 1990’s and through the early 2000’s, Beijing consulted with a lot of western economists who guided the nation’s emergence as a global behemoth. However, now it is resorting to the economic alchemy that has been tried by and failed so many other governments. China’s problem of inflationary pressures and rising commodity costs are well known and researched problems. Every government is caught between farmers wanting higher prices but consumers demanding lower food costs. Beijing is attempting several flawed approaches to the problems. There is the basic jawboning effort, warning against speculation in the market while talking up farmers about the state’s need for them to plant more corn (prices a...
If the media headlines and Trump critics are to be believed, President Trump is headed to Beijing this Thursday in a weakened position. China is in control, it has the upper hand, and expectations are very low. These are the same critics that argue against overly simplistic zero-sum analyses in...
From WPI Consulting
Weighing in on strategic realignment
WPI’s team was retained by the governing board of a U.S. industry organization to review a decision, reached by vote, to invest significant assets into the development and management of an export trading company. WPI’s team conducted a formal review of this decision and concluded that the current level of market saturation would limit the benefits of the investment. Based on WPI’s analysis and recommended actions, the board subsequently reversed its decision and undertook a strategic planning effort to identify more impactful investments. On behalf of numerous clients, WPI has not only assisted in identifying strategic paths but also advised their implementation.