Jones Act: The EU is correctly arguing that the Jones Act, an American law restricting intra-U.S. shipping be restricted to domestically built and operated ships is trade distorting. Washington argues its original purpose, to ensure the supply of domestic ships for national security, remains a fact. Europe would have more of a case if it contributed more to keeping global shipping lanes free. Despite its large economy, EU based navies retain two-thirds less tonnage than the U.S. Navy. They operate no cruisers or destroyers and have very few blue water ships. Hardly a strong position to be arguing against a U.S. defense policy that spares Europe the cost. China Message: U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says she will go to China ag...
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
Illuminating the value of technical research
On behalf of a commodity producer organization, WPI evaluated the outputs from a project that featured a $5 million investment into technical research over multiple years. WPI’s team captured the results of this extensive effort and synthesized them for presentation to the organization’s governing board; among the findings uncovered and presented for the first time was the development of genomic traits proven, via rigorous testing, to provide crop yield advantages of 50 percent or more to U.S. farmers in times of drought. Capturing measurable results from long-term efforts can be challenging. Educating clients on the dynamics of success measurement when quantifiable results are not readily available requires deep client-consultant collaboration and an ability to consider both near- and long-term client aspirations with market/policy dynamics – attributes that WPI brings to every consulting engagement.