For the first time in 12 years, the House has finished all regular appropriations bills prior to the beginning of the next fiscal year. However, expected slow action in the Senate will delay a FY 2018 spending blueprint until December – at the earliest.The House approved an omnibus appropriations bill for FY 2018 on 14 September, the first time it has passed all the appropriations for the upcoming fiscal year in a dozen years (for FY 2006). The 12 appropriations bills, however, were passed as two packages rather than individually in accordance with regular order. It approved the first on 27 July, a $700 billion package that consolidated the four bills for the defense department (including military construction) and the legislative branch as...
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.