Protectionism Progresses U.S. trading partners (and many Americans) hoping to wait out the presidency of Donald Trump for someone more conciliatory in the 2020 election should be disheartened listening to the Democrats vying for the job. The trade rhetoric of most leading Democratic contenders (save Joe Biden) is decidedly “progressive,” and even Mr. Biden now promises to soon release his own “progressive trade policy.” Progressives have traditionally been protectionists on behalf of organized labor, and they largely opposed the trade agreements negotiated when Joe Biden was vice president. Donald Trump won the Rust Belt states by adopting the trade policy of the progressive left, which intends to win them back. In...
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.