Inflation is worrisome to the public and so politicians feel compelled to deflect any blame from themselves. Thus, President Biden called for an FTC investigation of oil companies for rising gasoline prices even as his Administration has frozen certain federal lands from exploration and has raised lease prices on others. Not to be outdone, populist Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren (D) demanded a Justice Department investigation into poultry companies for the higher price of turkey approaching the Thanksgiving holiday. The four top poultry firms control 54 percent of the market share. The Senator did not mention the equally high rise in the cost of used automobiles, or the fact that rental cars have risen 78 percent more than turkey pr...
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.